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Jim Souhan analyzes the local sports scene and advises you to never take his betting advice. He likes old guitars and old music, never eats press box hot dogs, and can be heard on 1500ESPN at 2:05 p.m. weekdays, and Sundays from 10 a.m.-noon.

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Posts about Twins management

More from Ryan

Posted by: Jim Souhan Updated: August 29, 2012 - 9:37 AM

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Wrote about Terry Ryan's view of the future in today's paper. A few more tidbits from my conversation with the Twins' GM:
-He refuses to blame the team's payroll for its struggles. ``Back in the mid to late ‘90s, when we struggled, some of that was payroll-oriented. This one isn’t payroll-oriented at all. This is just making good baseball decisions. It can be done.
``We’e got plenty fo revenue here and plenty of payroll. We’ve got things here at our disposal that we never experienced in the Metrodome. I’m not sure exacltoy where that payroll is going to go in 2013 but ti’s certainly going to be a workable figure.''
-On signing big-money free agent pitchers: ``It’s not so mjuch the money, it’s the years. If you look at the market coming up, there’s a handful of guys. The market’s a little lean. So if you’re going to go toe to toe with some of the franchises that go after players like that, you’re going to get into that neighborhood of dollars and years...''
-More on his expectations for Justin Morneau in 2013: ``I think his numbers are going to return. I think he's a core guy. He’s fine. I think he's answered those questions about the concussions, and he's gotten past the injuries and surgeries. There don’t seem to be any more questions about his wrist., his ankle.
``His numbers, they’re respectable, but they're not Morneau numbers that you expect from him, that you got three years ago. It's been a while. Obviously, I'd like to see the home-run output and some of the offensive numbers increase. I expect they will. He's played quite well at first and he's been available. We've made strides in that area.''
-On his relationship with Ron Gardenhire, whom he says he won't fire: ``He and I have had similar philosophies. We disagree from time to time but we agree quite a bit. I don’t’ see where he’s the problem here.''
-His view of the current roster: ``We’ve got some good players here, and we’ve got some talent. We certainly have character. And we’ve got some things going for us. Unfortunately, they're not coming together like you would hope. So we've got a lot of work to do.''
-After saying that family considerations would be a part of his decision on whether to return as GM, he admitted that both of his children ``are out of the house,'' and that he wouldn't place the onus for the decision on his wife. ``I wouldn't put all of that on her shoulders,'' he said.
-Again, he gave me the impression that he's going to return. He sounds determined to fix the team. And other than teh starting rotation, he has a lot more to work with now than he did in the late '90s.
-When he stepped down as GM after the 2007 season, Ryan had a pretty good idea that longtime assistant GM Bill Smith would replace him. I asked him if he had successors waiting in the wings this time around, and whether he would recommend someone if he did step down.
Are there future GMS in the organization? ``We probably have quite a few, actually,'' he said. ``Some of them are people sou’re aware of and some of them aren’t. We have some people in this pipeline who have a good grasp of what this job entails...
``I think the Pohlads would listen to my input, but I think that's a decision that (president) Dave St. Peter and the family would make. They're not just going to listen to my recommendation.''
Assistant GM Rob Antony has worked in media relations and baseball operations and has worked closely with the minor league system. Longtime executive Mike Radcliff has an excellent reputation in the industry. Wayne Krivsky, the former Reds' GM, has experience and, like Radcliff, is highly respected in the industry.

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I'll be on 1500espn at 2:05 today. You can follow me on Twitter at @Souhanstrib.

No longer sure Twins in playoff race

Posted by: Jim Souhan Updated: August 28, 2012 - 10:40 PM

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Colleague Patrick Reusse figured it out before I got back up from the Twins' clubhouse:

Since July 18, 2011, the Twins are 71-127, for a winning percentage of .357.

That's pathetic.

For the Wednesday paper, I conducted a lengthy interview with Twins GM Terry Ryan. He was not happy. The column is about future plans, but he's stumped as to why what should be a pretty good lineup has fallen apart.

The Twins have failed to homer in 10 of their last 11 games. They went through a 14-inning scoreless streak before finally scoring in the third inning on Tuesday, and then they went to sleep until a token rally in the ninth.

They've been outscored 47-19 in their last eight games.

A lack of pitching is the reason they're not in contention. There's no sound explanation for why they've stopped hitting.

-The Mariners have beaten the Twins in seven straight games.

-The Twins are 10-26 against the AL West.

Enough about this team. Again, my interview with Terry Ryan will be in the Wednesday paper and at Startribune.com.

Please follow me on Twitter at @Souhanstrib.

 

The all ex-Twins team

Posted by: Jim Souhan Updated: August 28, 2012 - 12:13 PM

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So I'm watching the Twins live last night, and the Orioles and White Sox online, and I couldn't help but notice how many good former Twins were playing in the latter game.
A.J. Pierzynski. Lew Ford. Francisco Liriano. J.J. Hardy. Jesse Crain.
Then I flipped to the Rangers game and watched Joe Nathan look as dominant as his old, All-Star self, while blowing away the Rays in the ninth. 
So here's a first draft of an all-former Twins team. If I forgot someone significant, and I'm sure I did, please email me at jsouhan@startribune.com to remind me, and I"ll update later when I'm at tonight's Twins game.
C A.J.
Dh: David Ortiz
1b: Michael Cuddyer (who probably will play there next year for the Rockies.)
2b: Nick Punto, the key to that big Red Sox-Dodgers deal.
Ss: Hardy
3b: Danny Valencia (Sorry, it's not a perfect team. At least Danny adds some ``Swag.'' Whatever that is.)
OF: Jason Kubel, Torii Hunter, Delmon Young. Torii has to play CF again.
Starting rotation: R.A. Dickey, Johan Santana, Kyle Lohse, Francisco LIriano, Jason Marquis. Santana's hurt and Marquis is not very good, but how many teams have fully healthy and dominant rotations?
Bullpen: Joe Nathan, Jesse Crain, Matt Guerrier, LaTroy Hawkins, Jon Rauch, Craig Breslow
Bench: Wilson Ramos, Carlos Gomez, Lew Ford, Jason Bartlett, Orlando Hudson.
OK...now who did I forget?

Hendriks vs. Hernandez

Posted by: Jim Souhan Updated: August 27, 2012 - 10:11 PM

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Liam Hendriks allowed just one run in his first complete game, but lost, 1-0, to Felix Hernandez on Monday night at Target Field.
Tidbits and thoughts after another Twins loss:
-Hernandez has won four games 1-0 this year. He's allowed one earned run in his last 27 2/3 innings this year. He is the third pitcher since 1969 to have four wins with 1-0 scores in one season. The other two were Fergie Jenkins in 1974 and Bert Blyleven in 1976.
-The Mariners have beaten the Twins in six straight games.
-Asked why Justin Morneau wasn't running from third on Trevor Plouffe's grounder to second in the seventh inning, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire indicated that he doesn't believe in putting Morneau, with his injury and concussion history, at risk on such plays.
-The Twins have one homer in their last 10 games.
-I asked Twins outfielder Ben Revere if Hernandez was intimidating or sneaky. ``Sneaky,'' Revere said. ``Some of his pitches are so good, you think they're going to be a ball and they come back for a strike, there's so much late movement.''
-Given that Gardenhire often cites a pitcher's pace as an indicator of success, I asked Hendriks if he thought pitching with a quicker pace was a result of, or a cause of, his success on Monday.

``It's a bit of both,'' he said. ``It starts off as the result of pitching well early in the game, and then as soon as you get into a groove, it definitely helps you. It keeps you going.''

One way to get into a groove is to be on the same page as the catcher. How many times did he shake off a Joe Mauer sign on Monday? ``I didn't shake him off once,''' Hendriks said. ``We were on the same page all night. He called an absolute fantastic game.''

-Hendriks on how long he's been waiting to pitch this way in the big leagues: ``Well, this is my 14th start, so about 14 starts.''

Hendriks has yet to win a major league game.

-Joe Mauer caught his 832nd career game, passing Earl Battey for first place on the Twins' all-time list. He made one throwing error. He also made a fine, sliding catch against the backstop.

-The game lasted 2:10, tied for the shortest of the Twins' season, with a May 1 game at the Angels.

-The Twins have turned 133 ground-ball double plays this season, most in the majors. Pedro Florimon started one masterfully, getting screened by the second-base ump before handling a bad hop and pitching it to Jamey Carroll.

-Before the game, Twins' general manager Terry Ryan said it's time for Trevor Plouffe to prove he's the third baseman of the future. Plouffe had one shot to the centerfield fence caught, robbing him of a double, and hit a single. He also worked on fielding grounders early in the afternoon.

-The Twins are 52-76. If their lineup continues to slump, their 63-99 finish of a year ago is within reach.

-Asked about Scott Baker and Carl Pavano being in the Twins' future plans, even though they're injured and will become free agents at the end of the season, Ryan did not rule out the Twins being interested in one or both.

Please follow me on Twitter at @Souhanstrib.

 

Rainy day in London

Posted by: Jim Souhan Updated: July 29, 2012 - 10:10 AM

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It's raining in London. This is news only because of an amazing run of uncharacteristically spectacular weather.

Doesn't affect me. I just watched Brazil beat Australia, 75-71, and I'm waiting on US-France and, later, Russia-Great Britain. I'm here to watch three Wolves - Kevin Love, Alexey Schved and Andrei Kirilenko.

London is a great city, and one of my favorite aspects of this trip is the language. A few translations, with the British version first, followed by the American English translation:

1. Mind the gap/Watch your step

2. Rubbish/Trash

3. Spot of bother/annoyance

4. Thundys/Thunderstorms

5. Brolly/Umbrella

6. Black coffee/Espresso without milk or cream (Brewed coffee is not common here. The best coffee shops serve espresso drinks. A few have ``filtered coffee'' listed at the bottom of choices, as an afterthought)

7. Loo/bathroom

8. Lorry/Truck

9. Az-Hume/assume

10. Tube/Subway

11. Good bits/Most attractive portions of the opposite sex

12. Pint/Serving of beer or ale

13. Porridge/oatmeal

In fact, I had porridge just before walking through the rain today, so I'm feeling very Bri'ish.

Also, the English love their adjectives. This is the home of the television series ``Absolutely Fabulous,'' after all.

You hear a lot of ``Brilliant,'' ``Fabulous'', ``Re-Markable,'' ``Absolutely.''

What's really cool is hearing a 3-year-old speaking like Sir John Gielgud. (Google him, youngsters.) This makes the tots sound very mature even when they're screaming for ice cream.

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Love the White Sox's approach on Francisco Liriano: Beat him up, reduce his trade value, scare off other suitors, then trade for him at a reduced price. Brilliant!

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Hearing that the Wolves were the only team willing to give Brandon Roy two years of guaranteed money. I love the addition of Roy to a team desperate for a quality shooting guard, but that's scary, that no other NBA team would give him a second year. Wolves fans have to hope this wasn't another example of David Kahn overreacting to the chance to be associated with a big NBA name.

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I'll be calling in to 1500espn this morning between basketball games, probably at 11:35 or so. Please follow me on Twitter at @Souhanstrib.

 

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