twinkies on kubel?

[looptid]

Talk has been Hunter on the block because the Twins have a 9 mil option on him next year which they could better spread around to other players. I think the general consensus is that Hunter is good but not 9 mil good. if he goes Kubel could get full-time play.

It's actually a $12,500,000 option.

[looptid]

Not in the lineup tonight. What kind of moron sits his hottest and only hitter?

The one that plays Joe Mauer and his 377 batting average and Justin Morneau whose on pace for 40/130 maybe?

His AB vs Lidge was very reminicent of his 2004 AB vs Mariano....

He's learning....

You need to stop drinking the Gardenhire Koolaide. Since when was Kubel a catcher or a firstbaseman? Mauer and Morneau are irrelevant to Kubel's playing time unless they're DHing, was wasn't the case with the aforementioned line-up.

There are plenty of options to get Kubel into the line-up:

*DH once the Twins get back home and out of NL ballparks.
*Moving Cuddyer to 3B and putting Kubel in the outfield. This replaces either Luis Rodriguez or Nick Punto with Kubel.
*Benching Ford in favor of Kubel. Ford is hitting .226/.298/.311.

Questions:

1. How does Kubel "learn" from the bench?
2. Even if Kubel is still "learning", do you really think he's going to start sucking to the tune of .226/.298/.311? Or can't outhit Nick Punto or Luis Rodriguez?

Lew Ford is hitting like Jaun Castro, and the Twins couldn't tolerate Castro's offense at shortstop... let alone a corner outfield spot where much, much less is required defensively.

Gardenhire is the fool that wouldn't start Bartlett at the begining of the season over Castro. Ryan had to trade away Castro (who is not starting for the Reds in any capacity) to make sure Barlett now gets to play.

Gardenhire is the fool that bungled his bullpen deployment in game two of the 2004 ALDS that cost the Twins the series against the Yankees.

Gardenhire is the fool that allowed Terry Mulholland to pitch in a tied extra-inning game in 2004 that the Twins lost as a result.

Gardenhire is the fool that hits Mike Redmond third when Mauer has the day off.

Gardenhire is the fool that gives veteran pitchers every chance to fail (Kyle Lohse, Carlos Silva, Kenny Rogers) but keeps young pitchers in the bullpen (Santana, Liriano) or in the minors (Baker, Bonser).

But Gardenhire was gifted three division titles by a weak division who's second place team only won 81, 86, and 83 games, so his methods will surely work now that the AL Central is one of the stronger divisions in baseball instead of its doormat.

The Twins are on their current tear because of their young players... Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer (who Gardenhire has jerked around for years), Bartlett, and Kubel. The veterans Hunter, Stewart, Castro, Bautista, and White are the ones who sunk the Twins below .500, not the youngsters.

[Smee]

Not in the lineup tonight. What kind of moron sits his hottest and only hitter?

The one that plays Joe Mauer and his 377 batting average and Justin Morneau whose on pace for 40/130 maybe?

His AB vs Lidge was very reminicent of his 2004 AB vs Mariano....

He's learning....

You need to stop drinking the Gardenhire Koolaide. Since when was Kubel a catcher or a firstbaseman? Mauer and Morneau are irrelevant to Kubel's playing time unless they're DHing, was wasn't the case with the aforementioned line-up.

There are plenty of options to get Kubel into the line-up:

*DH once the Twins get back home and out of NL ballparks.
*Moving Cuddyer to 3B and putting Kubel in the outfield. This replaces either Luis Rodriguez or Nick Punto with Kubel.
*Benching Ford in favor of Kubel. Ford is hitting .226/.298/.311.

Questions:

1. How does Kubel "learn" from the bench?
2. Even if Kubel is still "learning", do you really think he's going to start sucking to the tune of .226/.298/.311? Or can't outhit Nick Punto or Luis Rodriguez?

Lew Ford is hitting like Jaun Castro, and the Twins couldn't tolerate Castro's offense at shortstop... let alone a corner outfield spot where much, much less is required defensively.

Gardenhire is the fool that wouldn't start Bartlett at the begining of the season over Castro. Ryan had to trade away Castro (who is not starting for the Reds in any capacity) to make sure Barlett now gets to play.

Gardenhire is the fool that bungled his bullpen deployment in game two of the 2004 ALDS that cost the Twins the series against the Yankees.

Gardenhire is the fool that allowed Terry Mulholland to pitch in a tied extra-inning game in 2004 that the Twins lost as a result.

Gardenhire is the fool that hits Mike Redmond third when Mauer has the day off.

Gardenhire is the fool that gives veteran pitchers every chance to fail (Kyle Lohse, Carlos Silva, Kenny Rogers) but keeps young pitchers in the bullpen (Santana, Liriano) or in the minors (Baker, Bonser).

But Gardenhire was gifted three division titles by a weak division who's second place team only won 81, 86, and 83 games, so his methods will surely work now that the AL Central is one of the stronger divisions in baseball instead of its doormat.

The Twins are on their current tear because of their young players... Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer (who Gardenhire has jerked around for years), Bartlett, and Kubel. The veterans Hunter, Stewart, Castro, Bautista, and White are the ones who sunk the Twins below .500, not the youngsters.

Ouch.

Good post!

[bravelaker]

I agree right on the money

[joeg24]

Hey loop, was just responding to "Only hitter" in that response. I agree with everything you said and am far from a Gardy kool-aid drinker, I was just commenting on that that Kubel is far from our only hot hitter right now. That's it, nothing more.

I too get frustrated at the organization for messing with the youth especially this year where Detroit and Chicago buried us in about 3 weeks. It's looking like they are changing a little and the great thing is they are winning now. Hoepfully they don't look at this hot streak in the wrong way and make a move for a Randa or a Reggie Sanders, IE another round of Batista's and Castro's.

The "learning" thing was just giving him an excuse for a brutal AB. I agree, getting him 300 more AB's this year is the nest way for him to avoid those kind of AB's.

All i know is that I'm pretty stoked by this hot streak and a ton of the reasons for it will be around for a while.

[The Big Train]

If the following speculation turns out to be true, it probably bodes well for Kubel's playing time going foward...

The Baseball Injury Report free e-letter suggests:

Shannon Stewart (OF, MIN) The Twins plan on sending Stewart
out for a minor league rehab assignment on Saturday. The
hope is he’ll be ready for a July 1 activation. The
disturbing part of the news from Minneapolis is that Stewart
is still feeling pain in the area of the tendon tear in his
left foot. Manager Ron Gardenhire indicated “it's good
enough" even though he still feels pain. Furthermore, he
admitted they know he’s not 100% and won’t be. There is an
unwritten understanding when most players come off the DL
they aren’t 100%. That usually doesn’t happen until the
offseason. Still, the way the Twins have framed his
situation, gives us the impression he’s well under 100% and
will remain so once he’s activated. The combination of the
type of injury he’s recovering from and this news should
give his owners reason for concern once he’s activated.