Twins win two against the Yanks & upcoming interviews

The Twins pulled off two wins against the Yanks & Captain America over the past two days, despite the Yankees running out their $1b lineup in Saturday’s game. The completely meaningless unbeaten streak continues…

In very cool news, our own AJ26 has arranged an interview with Pat Neshek, sidearmer extraordinaire. In case you’re unfamiliar with the process, the way we do it here first involves starting a thread and then any user can submit questions for Mr. Neshek. After we get enough good (or disgusting) questions, the moderators and admins choose the best (or most disgusting) of them and send them to the interviewee. So, get your ass in that thread and post a question if you have one.

Other than that, expect the main page to remain in its current state for the next week. I’m off to Florida for Bike Week and if I’m lucky, a Spring Training game or two. If you have any questions or, God forbid, actually want to blog something on this site (where are you people?), email me at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and I can get you set up remotely. If I don’t post, have a good week, kids!

Be sure to check out our BYTO forums for more discussion and information.

Posted by rocketpig on 02/28 at 03:33 PM
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A few notes…

The front page is slowly coming together. I had two hours free today so I updated a few things and made it look slightly more BYTO-esque. We’re still looking for links so if you run a site and want to cross-link, email (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). In the next few days, I hope to either clean up the wiki or get the Picture of the Week back up and running. One thing at a time…

On the forums, we have news from LENIII that Cruz appears to be out of the picture. Disappointing, for there aren’t many adequate relievers on the market right now. It’s 2009 and the Twins pen is a long way from the glory days of just a few years ago. If you want to read user comments on the reliever market, you can find some here.

In more encouraging news, the Twins beat up on the Reds pretty badly today, with Peterson going granny late in the game. As always, if you have anything to say on this blog, go ahead and PM me on the forums.

Oh, this should make a few of you happy… POST REVIEWS ARE GONE IN THE FORUMS! Yes, I finally installed the module that gets rid of the “feature” that has been annoying you guys for so bloody long. Finally, game threads will no longer be an exercise in frustration as you try to submit the same post four times. Now, you can all focus on being annoyed at the incredibly stupid things you all say to each other while the Twins play.

Be sure to check out our BYTO forums for more discussion and information.

Posted by rocketpig on 02/26 at 03:24 PM
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Did We Really Need 170+ Posts on this: A Take on the Joe Crede Signing

The recent hot topic of discussion for the Twins is Joe Crede. In the last couple of weeks, an independent survey of threads on BYTO’s message board shows that five of them involving Crede have gone over 50 posts. I guess I’m just not as excited by this news as some of you are.

I should start this by saying that this isn’t a Tony Batista, Ramon Ortiz or Livan Hernandez signing. Batista is probably the most relevant of the three, and I remember feeling a lot more certain that he would fail than Crede (though in Batista’s prime, he was a dead ringer for Crede in terms of performance). The difference is that Crede actually posted numbers last year, where Batista had spent 2005 not hitting in Japan. His team there wanted pretty much nothing to do with him after the season. All you really needed to do was look at the spare tire around him on the YouTube clip of him that was circulating in December, 2005 to realize this was a bad idea.

The Crede signing, however, is very reminiscent of another December, 2005 signing. That of Rondell White. Given White’s serious struggles in Minnesota, it’s easy to forget that he hit .313/.348/.489 for the Tigers in 2005 before cutting the year short due to shoulder injuries. Though the White move can be firmly knocked for how colossal a failure it was, it could’ve have worked had White stayed healthy—albeit not nearly well enough to be a long-term solution.

I generally like LaValle E. Neal’s work, but his article post-Crede signing made me vomit in my mouth a little. This is not a low-risk signing. The risk you take is putting up with Rondell White II: Attack of the Clones for about 200 at bats before shifting to a Buscher/Harris platoon. The payoff isn’t an All-Star, either. Simply put,:

• Alex Rodriguez is the best third baseman in the AL.
• Evan Longoria is the best third baseman in the AL in waiting.
• After that, you have a group of third baseman fighting to be #3 that includes Scott Rolen, Melvin Mora, Adrian Beltre, Mike Lowell,  Carlos Guillen, Josh Fields, Alex Gordon (who may also still be the best third baseman in the AL in waiting) Eric Chavez, Hank Blalock and, yes, Joe Crede.

Granted, this is still an upgrade from where the Twins were from last year. But even a healthy Crede is far from the ideal. He’s a great defensive third baseman who happens to hit right-handed with some pop. Those are things the Twins need. At the same time, he’s never going to hit for great average, doesn’t draw many walks, tries to pull everything and is moving into a park where the last one hurts him severely (Crede’s career OPS at the Metrodome and it’s excellent hitting backdrop is a robust ..597, so even if he’s healthy he could be a complete flop). And if everything I just said there is wrong, Boras will use his good season as leverage to get a 4 year, $50 million contract from some team next offseason. Granted, if that happens, you can flip it around to good news as well. That means the Twins likely get type-A compensation out of Crede and additional draft picks.

The point is, this move can be spinned to whatever point of view you want, unless your point of view is somehow that this puts the Twins over the top as the favorites in the A.L. Central. The division right now is closer than the Nixon/Kennedy presidential race, and any one of the five teams in it can win.  Upon closer look:

• The Tigers probably have the best offense in the division, and the potential for a pretty good rotation if they can get Verlander and Bonderman to rebound
• The Indians are right behind them in terms of offense, and possibly ahead if Hafner rebounds. The rotation isn’t lights out, but it’s solid from 1-5.
• The White Sox aren’t anything outstanding, but they don’t have many weak links either.
• The Royals, surprisingly, have the division’s best 1-2 punch in their rotation right now in Greinke and Meche, and a middle of the line-up that could explode around Butler and Gordon, or could sink.

The Twins are essentially the White Sox with more potential. They’re pretty much solid across the board, and if Crede works out that’s even more true. But there isn’t that one outstanding piece that puts them over the top, unless Mauer goes from Mientciewicz to Olerud in terms of power, Liriano regains his stuff, Young hits for the power that the minor league version of himself did or Kubel hits for the average the minor league version of himself did.

Signing Crede (or Juan Cruz, for that matter) has the potential to be a nifty little move. In the long run though, it’s going to take more than Crede to get the team where we all want it to go.

Be sure to check out our BYTO forums for more discussion and information.

Posted by jewscott on 02/24 at 03:42 PM
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Risk and Reward: The Joe Crede Signing

On the day of the first full-squad workout, the Twins added a new player to the squad.

Verifying reports that began to surface last night, free agent third baseman Joe Crede is expected to officially join the Twins in Fort Myers today or tomorrow, and will hopefully be ready for the Twins’ first game on the 25th. The deal Crede wanted, once rumored to be as high as $7 million base salary with another $5 million in incentives, was a far cry from the one he received.

The final deal included a $2.5 million base salary with incentives based on PAs that would bring the total contract to $7 million. The Twins managed to get the player they wanted without overpaying, which ought to make fans and management alike excited about this move. This deal minimizes the risks associated with signing a player who has missed parts of the last two seasons with injuries; the Twins potentially could pay Crede less than they are paying offensive black hole Nick Punto.

Had the Twins caved to the pressure and signed him for the $7 million-$12 million he wanted, it would have been a mistake of Rondell White proportions. Having the contract’s incentives be triggered by plate appearances could be a catch-22 for the Twins. While it protects them from paying Crede if he is seriously hurt, it increases the likelihood that Crede will try to play through pain.

Giving some players an incentive towards toughness can be a good thing, but Crede is known as one of the tougher players in the league, and doesn’t need any further push in that direction. In fact, trying to play through too many injuries could prove more harmful to the Twins than helpful. Having Brenden Harris and Brian Buscher as backups should give Ron Gardenhire the buffer he needs to feel comfortable pulling the plug on Crede if his herniated disc still proves to be problematic.

On paper, Crede looks like a phenomenal addition, especially if he gets anywhere near his 2006 numbers, which isn’t out of the question. Defensively, he should be solid at the very minimum and could be near gold glove level if he is healthy. The question is what he can produce offensively. At this point, it would be prudent to point out that his career line isn’t superb, but also that in 97 games, he hit more home runs than the Twins got the entire 2008 season from the third base position.

The Twins will soon find out whether they found a bargain or paid fair value for a high injury risk player.

Now that Billy Smith has provided a player to fill the Twins rather gaping hole at third base, it is up to Ron Gardenhire to make sure that he gets the most out whoever he decides to run onto the field.

originally published at Bleacher Report

Be sure to check out our BYTO forums for more discussion and information.

Posted by dwade on 02/24 at 11:36 AM
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To the Delight of the Minnesota Chiropractor’s Association, Joe Crede is a Twin

I wish I had time for a blog on this but I’m wrapped up in site work. If any of you faithful BYTOers wish to put your thoughts to cyberspace on this or any other Twins-related subject, PM me on the forums or email me at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

On a related note, we need some smartass comments on the Wiki for our new favorite third baseman:

http://www.battleyourtailoff.com/wiki/index.php?title=Joe_Crede

For those of you wishing to link to BYTO, we have a new man handling that because frankly, I’m too lazy to ever stay on top of it. Statfreak will handle all cross-linking to the site and if you wish to get on board, email him at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Anyway, keep on battlin’ and let’s hope Joey doesn’t throw his back out on the way up the dugout steps in early April.

Be sure to check out our BYTO forums for more discussion and information.

Posted by rocketpig on 02/21 at 08:18 PM
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Since I’m Taking my Sweet Ass Time Finishing This…

I’ll post up a few links because I’m too lazy to finish the menu design right now. Or change the colors. Or even center the damn thing, really. All in due time.

Forums:
http://www.battleyourtailoff.com/forum/

Wiki (come on people, we need to bring this back to life!):
http://www.battleyourtailoff.com/wiki/

Old blogs:
http://www.battleyourtailoff.com/majorblog/

I implore you guys to start writing on the Wiki again. I just spent a few minutes on it and there is pure comedy gold to be found in those descriptions. Get to it, people.

Be sure to check out our BYTO forums for more discussion and information.

Posted by rocketpig on 02/20 at 10:46 PM
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Like the new layout, Nancy?

BYTO is closing its doors in favor of a totally sweet blog about flowers, puppy dogs, and Verve’s wife.

Actually, this is just a template I found that has the features I wanted without having to code it all myself. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be adding Picture of the Week, The Bitch Box, and several other features the site had when it launched in ‘06. The colors will be changing and the final product will be completely different than anything BYTO has seen in the past. My goal is to have it all up and running in a polished state by Opening Day. If you have any suggestions, questions, or just want to call me names, visit the thread below:

http://www.battleyourtailoff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=15173&p=230175#p230175

As always, the forums can be found at http://www.battleyourtailoff.com/forum/

Be sure to check out our BYTO forums for more discussion and information.

Posted by rocketpig on 02/19 at 06:30 PM
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