Notes: July 28

-The Iowa High School Baseball Tourney wrapped up last weekend. The only reason I bring this up is to mention the play of B.J. Hermsen, the 6th round pick of the Twins in this year's draft. Here's his line for West Delaware's 3A 13-0 win over Cedar Rapids Xavier:

CG 5 IP 3 H 0 ER 0 BB 12 K

also...

3-4 R 5 RBI including a 3-run HR

He came in relief against Centerville in the semifinal round, throwing 1 1/3 IP, striking out 3, but West Delaware's season ended in a 2-0 loss.

-Shooter Hunt was promoted to Class A Beloit and started on the 26th against Wisconsin:
5 IP 3 H 1 ER 2 BB 9 K
He ended up on the short end of a 1-0 game, however, picking up his first minor league decision.

-I may need to apologize to Denard Span for reaching my earlier conclusion that he was the odd man out in the OF battle. He has now emerged to be more of an asset than Gomez, given Carlos' recent slump. Since June 30 when Span was called up, Gomez has hit .184 with a .282 on-base %. The speedy CF has also shown no signs of the early speed, having only gone 1-2 in SB attempts in that same time frame.

-Many people (hopefully more than just me) have had questions about why can't the Twins send down Boof to AAA and bring up Liriano, or why is Liriano's agent having a fit because Francisco is still in the minors. Well, I found this website that explains things pretty good, and its to the point as well. If anything doesn't make sense, feel free to ask me, not that I know the answers, but I'll definitely enjoy figuring it out.

-I found a page on the Rule 5 draft that takes place during the winter meetings. I thought it was interesting to see how some rules are put in place to maintain balance in the league. Basically the Rule 5 draft is in place to keep teams from hoarding minor league talent. In many cases, one team may have a stockpile of players that aren't quite as good as the guys ahead of them in the organization, but are good enough to play for another team. Take Johan Santana for example...he was a member of the Astros organization and was left off the 40-man roster at the end of the 1999 season, which opened the door for the Marlins to pick him in the '99 Rule 5 draft. They then traded him to the Twins, who, by law had to keep him on the 25-man roster (big-league team) all of 2000 in order to keep him. Although his stats that season were less than impressive (2-3, 6.49 ERA, 64/54 K/BB), by having him up all year gave the Twins complete rights to him, so they sent him to the minors for more seasoning. He was a huge contributer to the Twins 2003 success, going 12-3 with a 3.07 ERA and 169 K's in 158 1/3 IP.

-Today, the Twins need to decide what to do with Adam Everett, who's rehab assignment is done. They either need to re-evaluate him back to the DL, bring him up (releasing someone), or release him. Personally, I choose the latter of the three.

-Finally, a update on the Fantasy Season for Five-Tool Performer, my 2008 MLB.com Open team. A heartbreaking loss last week...didn't see it coming. I had a 20-point lead going into the last day. I check it this morning and I lost by 10. Somehow I was outscored by 30 points on the last day. As humiliating as it was, it didn't hurt my playoff chances. I made the postseason tournament as the wild-card team. If I put up the same stats as I did last week in my loss, I should be alright though. He's got Jose Reyes and Justin Morneau as his studs that I need to look out for, along with the ChiSox pitching staff. I'm countering with Ian Kinsler, Grady Sizemore and the Rays pitching staff. I like my chances. (Plus he won't get any points for having Matsui still on his lineup, as he's on the DL...shhhh!)

BRING ON YOUR BEST "WEWE'S CABBAGE"!!!

So long for now...