August 24, 2011
“Gleeman and The Geek” #2: The (J.J.) Hardy Mysteries
This week's episode of "Gleeman and The Geek" was recorded at the Scoreboard Bar and Grill in Minnetonka and the beer of choice was Grain Belt Premium.
Topics included Brian Duensing's struggles as a starter, what the 2012 rotation will look like, whether Jim Thome and Jason Kubel should be traded, J.J. Hardy's return to Minnesota, the origins of my weird accent, Joe Nathan's chances of staying, Michael Cuddyer's price tag, why talking about Kevin Slowey is like making fat jokes, Tsuyoshi Nishioka's future, Joe Benson's upside, Lester Oliveros' debut, and a whole bunch of other stuff.
Gleeman and The Geek: Episode 2
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This week's content is sponsored by PosterBurner.com, where you can turn your photographs into high-quality custom posters.
Nice job. It’s funny to hear two logical and tuned-in fans have such differing opinions on what the Twins can and will do, regarding the rotation, outfield, and Ruesse’s column. Gleeman’s Chicago accent aside, it’s clearly two Minnesotan’s disagreeing though, because you both avoid the confrontations and say ‘That’s a good point, you might be right’ quite a bit.
Although I often disagree with Ruesse, I think his overall point in his ‘Goodbye Cuddyer’ article was correct. If you let Cuddyer and Kubel go, and are willing to spend that $16 or $17 mil a year on a starting pitcher, great. But this free agent crop is pretty weak…I’d hesitate spending that much on CJ Wilson, and Sabathia will top that if he opts out.
I fully expect the Twins to overpay someone for the saves statistic. Given that assumption, I hope they are willing to overpay Nathan. I would still buy out his option, but then offer him a one or two year deal for $8 mil each.
Comment by Breaker — August 24, 2011 @ 4:46 pm
Episode 2 built very nicely on the success of the premiere.
What a relief to finally here people acknowledge aloud that the Twins scouting, player development, and training methods have reached the threshold of embarrassment.
My takeaway from overall message is that you both generally feel that the Twins will probably not be competitive next year, and will also fail once again to make any meaningful progress toward rebuilding.
Comment by LaBombo — August 24, 2011 @ 4:54 pm
Excellent work. Very solid analysis and the only complaint is that it isn’t long enough (two more pitchers of beer and things might get really interesting).
You do an excellent job talking about a difficult subject–difficult not because the Twins suck this year, but that given the peculiarities of the injuries, there are probably about a dozen different personnel scenarios for next year when considering just the offense alone (Span and Morneau doubts creates a whole domino effect involving overpaying to keep Cuddyer *and* Kubel for 3+ years, Mauer’s catching amount, etc. etc.).
One thing to suggest for maybe a 5 minute segment per week would be to take a position and analyze the organization’s depth charts and likely 2012 roster spots from the Twins down to Beloit. This might be a good way to get the overall picture of where the team is heading (I would suggest the catcher spot first). For instance, you could do a wish depth chart and a likely depth chart for each position. For instance, are the Twins really going to roll with the likes of Butera, Rivera, and Holm at the top, or do Danny Lehmann and even Chris Herrmann get looks? etc.
Comment by Shane — August 24, 2011 @ 11:16 pm