NFL “Expert” Picks – Week 9

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Quick Update today before getting to the Week 9 FB Picks.  It’s been another long week!

 

Question of the Day –

I happen to think that Halloween is one of the dumbest “holidays” out there. I understand its history and background and meaning and such. I just think that it is a dumb holiday. So, what is your opinion? What is the dumbest holiday out there? I would put Valentine’s Day right up there with Halloween?

·         Congratulations to Rob Delaney who was named the Best Reliever in the minor leagues by MiLB.com. Anthony Slama was named the Best Reliever in Class A-Advanced.

·         The vote for Twins Prospect #26 is running now. Since yesterday, David Bromberg was voted the #24 prospect and then Rob Delaney ran away with the vote for #25. You can now vote for Twins Prospect #26, and over the weekend, you will be able to vote for more.

·         LaVelle tells us that with the end of the World Series, the free agent market begins. On Thursday, Nick Punto, Eddie Guardado and Dennys Reyes all filed. He also provides a list of the 65 players that filed for free agency on Thursday, but many more will within the next two weeks.   

Arizona Fall League Thursday Update

·         The Phoenix Desert Dogs beat the Peoria Javelinas 7-1 on Thursday.

·         Steve Tolleson again went 2-5. He hit his fourth double and his second home run. He was the only Twins minor leaguer to play in this game.

·         Jeff Manship did update his AFL blog.

 

Please feel free to e-mail me at SethSpeaksNet@hotmail.com or Comment Here.

NFL “Expert” Picks

The Panel and The Standings

If you would like to know more about our panelists, or get up to date standings, click here. Here are the updated standings from our group through week eight:

The Week 9 Picks

With that, You can find our panel’s picks at www.SethSpeaks.net. Congratulations to Missy Lien who had her second child, a son just last Friday!

Big Day in Arizona

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net –

The Phoenix Desert Dogs beat the Peoria Javelinas 10-2 in Arizona Fall League action on Wednesday. It was a big day for the three Twins hitters:

·         Steve Tolleson’s average dropped to .429 with another 2-5 game. He also walked once. Unfortunately, he also committed his seventh error.

·         Danny Valencia also went 2-5 with an RBI.

·         Dustin Martin went 3-5 with an RBI and his third stolen base.

Any thoughts? Send me an e-mail or leave your thoughts here.

Philadelphia Phillies: World Champs!

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

A big congratulations to Chris Coste and the Philadelphia Phillies on their 2008 World Series championship. The Phillies finished off the series in five game, although the nearly 48 hour rain delay made the logistics interesting. It was almost anticlimactic from a fan’s perspective, in a way, due to the circumstances. But then you see Brad Lidge getting a strikeout to end the game. You see Carlos Ruiz run to the mound. You see Ryan Howard topple them both, and the big dog pile the ensued reminds you that this is a very exciting event.

The Phillies were built for a championship run. They obviously have a very solid lineup. They had good starting pitching including one of the best, Cole Hamels. And they have a dominant bullpen. This team did what it needed and came through.

The Rays were a tremendous story throughout the 2008 season, and that can not be forgotten. But I fear that too many people think it is just a great story. The reality is that this Rays team, like the Phillies, was built for a championship run. Their starting pitching is remarkable. Their bullpen is incredible and added David Price for the playoffs. Their lineup is strong, showing both power and speed. You can see that Joe Maddon is a great manager. This team is legit, not just a great story.

And as you would expect from this site, a Chris Coste angle has to be made. It was a great story in 2006 when Chris Coste became The 33 Year Old Rookie. A life-long dream was fulfilled, and he could be called “big leaguer.” Now in 2008, in his first full big league season, he played a big part in getting the Phillies to the playoffs, and now, he can be called “World Champion.” The incredible story continues, and you just can’t help but wonder what the next chapter of the story will be.

And now, it hits you, doesn’t it? Spring Training starts in about three-and-a-half months. We have three and a half months without baseball games. Kind of depressing, isn’t it? Fortunately, Baseball’s Hot Stove League keeps our attention throughout that time, but it is all about getting to the games that count, which will happen again next April.

Again, congratulations to Chris Coste and the Philadelphia Phillies on their 2008 World Series Championship. Congratulations also to the Tampa Bay Rays. Enjoy your offseason!

Media Update

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net –

Hey everyone, it’s going to be quick tonight (for me). I have a couple of media related topics to cover and a few notes, the Arizona Fall League update and a little more. If you just checked the site once on Tuesday morning, please scroll down and notice that I added five “Quick Updates” to it. There were a few very good links that you should check out.

 

First of all, there was a new SethSpeaks.net Weekly Twins Podcast tonight from 8-9. I thought it again went very well. It started with a brief introduction before Josh Whetzel, the radio voice of the Rochester Red Wings, called in. We talked a lot about many players on the Red Wings 2008 roster as well as the recent coaching announcements. Josh is a tremendous guest and answers all questions very well. In the second half of the show, Aaron Gleeman called in. Now, you all know Aaron Gleeman from www.AaronGleeman.com, www.RotoWorld.com, www.NBCSports.com, and www.MinnPost.com. He came on and talked about some of his upcoming projects and plans, but we spent the majority of the time talking Twins. We talked about current players, possible free agent signings, some names that have come up in trades, Delmon Young and the OF, Nick Punto and SS and much more. In fact, the live podcast finished at 9:00 and Aaron stayed around for another 15 minutes, so I really appreciate that. I encourage you to listen to the podcast if you have a chance (if you’re at work, be sure to wear your head phones!). If you have any comments on the show, please send me an e-mail or leave some comments.   

 

Secondly, on Wednesday morning at 11:00 central time, I will be on The Fan 710, Bismarck-Mandan’s (ND) ESPN affiliate. I will talk Twins, World Series, football, and other topics on The Jack Michaels Show. It is always a lot of fun to join Jack and talk sports. So, if you are in North Dakota, northern South Dakota, eastern Montana, southern Manitoba or western Minnesota and can tune into am 710, please be sure to do so. If you are out of that range, you can also Listen Live online at The Fan’s site.

 

Third, a quick book update. Last week, I put an order in for one copy of Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook – 2009. It is going to be my edit/proofread copy. I should be receiving it via mail in the next day or two. I will then read through it once and try to make as many corrections as necessary. What is interesting is that when I ordered it just over a week ago, it had about ten fewer pages than it does now. In other words, I have added more content. I have added profiles for approximately ten more Twins prospects, so we are well over 175 profiles now. I plan to take about a week to edit before sending in another revision and getting one more final edit copy. Once I review that, it will become available. If you are looking for an approximate timeline, as of today, I am looking at about a November 17^th release. It will be available at LuLu.com. I think I am also going to order up a bulk shipment for myself to be able to sell individually or to others. Who knows? Maybe there’ll even be a book signing or two! Anyway, just want to keep people updated. I haven’t yet figured out a cost, but you can guess it will be somewhere between $15-18 depending on final costing. I want to make sure it is priced so that people can buy a copy (of ten), but I also have to make sure that it makes sense. This is just a quick update, but I would really like people to send me an e-mail with your thoughts on the book. Would you order a copy? Would you be interested in ordering a dozen? Do you have any advice? I just really want to make sure that I provide a book that people will like and it will give them what they need. As a first book, I don’t expect it to be perfect, but I really want it to be very good and worth people’s time and investment. Thanks!

 

Here are some more thoughts and notes:

·         Over the Baggy takes a look at the Twins prospects that showed the most improvement in terms of Strikeout Rate.

·         Keeping up with the Twinkie Town Prospect list, yesterday Rene Tosoni was voted the #21 prospect with Michael McCardell then running away with the choice for Prospect #22. The vote for Twins Prospect #23 was just posted, so be sure to go there to vote and discuss.

·         If you have a chance this Saturday to take in a charity event, please consider attending “Pups in the Park” which is being put on by Stephanee Neshek and some of the other Twins wives/fiancées. It’s a great organization, so please consider it. (Note, for more information, check out Pat Neshek’s website, where Stephanee gave some more details.)

 

Arizona Fall League Tuesday Update

·         On Tuesday, Phoenix won 12-7 over the Surprise Rafters.

·         Steve Tolleson went 2-5 which dropped his average to .431. I called Tolleson an Unsung Prospect early in the season. I am now to the point where, if the Twins don’t address the SS or 2B position, Tolleson could be given an opportunity in Spring to fight for a big league roster spot. But the Twins value defense, and Tolleson also committed his 6^th error of the short AFL season.

·         Dustin Martin went 1-3 with a walk and two RBI.

·         Danny Valencia was 1-4 with his fourth double and two runs scored.

·         Rob Delaney gave up one run on two hits in the seventh inning. He struck out one.

·         Tim Lahey struck out two in a scoreless 8^th inning. He struck out two.

·         Anthony Slama then came in for the 9^th inning. He got just one out. He gave up two hits and two walks. All four scored (3 earned). He threw 34 pitches and got just one out.      

Any thoughts, please e-mail me, or leave Comments here.

Live Twins Podcast Tonight at 8!

Well, we found out that there won’t be a World Series game tonight, so if you’ve got nothing better to do, or just want to fill the void with baseball talk, check out tonight’s Weekly Twins Podcast Live at 8:00 (central time). You can find the show by going to www.BlogTalkRadio.com/SethSpeaks.

Tonight’s guests will include The Voice of the Rochester Red Wings, Josh Whetzel, and Twins blogger extraordinaire, Aaron Gleeman. We will talk baseball and answer any questions that you send in through the chat room. There may even be another guest or two, so tune in.

Last week’s show (and all other podcasts) is still available at www.BlogTalkRadio.com/SethSpeaks. It includes a 28 minute conversation with Twins reliever Pat Neshek as well as conversations/discussions with Erik Van Dyck (Media Relations Director – Beloit Snappers) and Gary Sharp (Media Relations Director – Ft. Myers Miracle).

Minor League Notes

Also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Quick Update – I just saw that on Jeff Manship’s Twins AFL blog, there is a Guest Blogger, Rob Delaney. So, click here to learn more about the future Twins relief pitcher.

Quick Update 2 – For all the Chris Coste fans, here is another great article on his incredible story.

Quick Update 3 – This article on Coste is from the Star-Tribune.

Quick Update 4 – Nick Nelson with his assessment of Delmon Young and his trade value. Mike Wants Wins will like this!

Quick Update 5 – Beloit’s new hitting coach next year will be Rich Miller, who has been in the Twins system the last five years and was the roving base running and outfielder coach last year.

 

I wanted to post just a few minor league notes quickly while I’m watching this World Slippery, I mean, Wet Series, I mean World Series game. I can’t believe they are still playing and haven’t taken a half-hour to fix up and then cover the field and let the players switch uniforms or warm up or something. Just as I typed that, the turf came out on the field. That is absolutely the right decision. We’ll see if they continue.

 

The Twins announced their minor league coaching staffs yesterday. Here is the quick version:

·         Rochester – Manager – Stan Cliburn, Pitching Coach – Bobby Cuellar, Hitting Coach – Riccardo Ingram

·         New Britain – Manager – Tom Nieto, Pitching Coach – Stu Cliburn, Hitting Coach – Floyd Rayford

·         Ft. Myers – Manager – Jeff Smith, Pitching Coach – Steve Mintz, Hitting Coach – Jim Dwyer

·         Beloit – Manager – Nelson Prada, Pitching Coach – Gary Lucas

·         Elizabethton – Manager – Ray Smith, Pitching Coach – Jim Shellenback, Hitting Coach – Jeff Reed

·         GCL Twins – Manager – Jake Mauer, Pitching Coach – Ivan Artaega, Hitting Coach – Rudy Hernandez, Coach – Milt Cuyler

 

A couple of things stood out to me. First, Beloit needs a hitting coach. Rudy Hernandez was their coach last year but he will head down to the GCL team. It will be interesting to see how that turns out. Matthew Lecroy, anyone? I have heard nothing but great reports on Jeff Smith as a manager. I think he’ll keep working up through the system. Bobby Cuellar must not have liked the manager role as much as the pitching coach role. He is back where he was when he earned his big league job a couple of years ago when he helped Francisco Liriano become an ace. He is very well respect. Riccardo Ingram is a guy that I think will be moved up in the near future. Whether it is to the Twins hitting coach or the hitting coach for another team, I think he will get a shot. Just reading and hearing some of the things he has done, I think he’s very good. And of course, the Cliburn Brothers are split up, which is interesting too. Any other thoughts on these decisions?

 

 

Here are some more thoughts and notes:

·         Kevin Lewis posted a very good Q&A with Tyler Robertson.

·         Steve Tolleson was voted the #20 Twins prospect, so now, you can vote for Twins Prospect #21.

·         Looking for a Christmas gift? How about a game-worn Beloit Snappers jersey? Beloit will put several game-worn jerseys on sale starting November 3^rd. So be sure to check out the official site of the Snappers for more details.

·         Be sure to head to the Rochester Red Wings site to listen to a podcast with Stan Cliburn from Arizona, talking about the Twins prospects that are out there with him and more.

Arizona Fall League Monday Update

·         On Monday, Phoenix won 16-7 over the Surprise Rafters.

·         Steve Tolleson went 3-4 with his first home run, his fourth stolen base, three runs scored and two RBI.

·         Dustin Martin went 0-4 with a walk and two runs scored.

·         Danny Valencia was 1-4 with his fourth double and two runs scored.

·         Jeff Manship started for the Desert Dogs. He got his first win with five solid innings. He gave up two runs on four hits. He walked two and struck out three. 46 of his 71 pitches were strikes.      

 

Any thoughts, please e-mail me, or leave Comments here.

Weekend Updates

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

The World Series continues. I don’t know if you were like me and waited up until Carlos Ruiz hit a slow roller down the 3B line to end the game, giving the Phillies a 2-1 series lead, but that was late! Then last night, it was a blowout for the Phillies, and tonight could be more of the same as Cole Hamels will try to end the World Series for the Phillies. The Gophers football team won again, beating Purdue handily on the road. They are 7-1. They are #17 in the new BCS standings. Could they be for real? Imagine if they went 11-1, and based on who they play they could. The cynic in my says they have as good a chance at ending the season 7-5, but I really don’t think that will happen. The Gophers hockey team beat Wisconsin a couple of times. The Vikings had a week off, but received news that both Kevin Williams and Pat Williams could be subject to a four game suspension due to steroids. That’s never good. Losing those two, along with the injured EJ Henderson, would greatly hurt the middle of that Vikings defense! Apparently the Wild are doing pretty well, so that’s good. Here are some more thoughts and notes:

·         When you read anything written by Charley Walters in the Pioneer Press, you often have to take it with a grain of salt. However, he wrote an excellent article on St. Paul native (and St. Thomas grad) Buzz Hannahan. He was in the Phillies organization for several years and played with several of the current World Series participants including Chris Coste. Their stories are actually quite similar except that Coste actually got a chance. I encourage everyone to read it if you haven’t.

·         Real GM performs an audit of the 2008 Twins season.

·         Another article on the Virginia Beach, Virginia, area’s big leaguers; Michael Cuddyer, BJ Upton, Justin Upton, David Wright, Ryan Zimmerman and Mark Reynolds.

·         Here is an article about Jason Bartlett’s stolen base in the World Series giving everyone a free taco at Taco Bell. It also talks about his leadership skills. There is a quote from a text message from Kevin Slowey that is pretty impressive. Why? Because it uses the word “verbose.”

·         OK, I am always interested and intrigued by the inner-workings of baseball. This article from the Philadelphia Inquirer is about advanced scouting, something that is overlooked by fans. Overlooked probably isn’t even the right word; many probably don’t even know it is happening. Anyway, this article talks about some advanced scouting done on the Twins by the Braves scout Mike Arbuckle heading into the 1991 World Series. Also, Kent Tekulve talks about trying to find something, anything about Francisco Liriano to try to gain an edge. This article is absolutely worth the read. If you ever wondered why a fielder was standing somewhere strange for a particular batter, or why a pitch out was called in a certain situation, this article may help explain some of that.

·         Gophers assistant coach Rob Fornasiere was named the ABCA Assistant Coach of the Year.

·         These are the kinds of stories I try to find throughout the offseason. This one comes from the Lewis County Chronicle, in Washington. It discusses the season and plans for Twins prospect Brock Peterson. According to the article, there is an assumption that he will remain in the organization and head to Rochester in 2009. What’s even more interesting is that there is a chance that he will go to Colombia this winter to play ball. It is a country that the Twins have never sent a player, so it could be interesting.

·         Anthony Slama (17), Philip Humber (18) and Brian Duensing (19) were added to the Twinkie Town Top Prospects list via votes this weekend. Currently, you can vote for Twins Prospect #20.

Arizona Fall League Weekend Update

·         The Rising Stars Showcase was on Friday night. Anthony Slama and Rob Delaney represented the Twins. Slama didn’t pitch. Delaney pitched the 8^th inning. He gave up one walk and struck one out in a scoreless inning.

·         On Saturday, Phoenix won 13-10 over Scottsdale.

·         Steve Tolleson went 2-5 with an RBI. He batted second and played 2B. He is now hitting .405.

·         Dustin Martin went 1-4 and is hitting .264. He batted fifth and played LF.

·         Tim Lahey pitched the 8^th inning. He gave up a hit and two walks, but no runs, in the inning.     

Any thoughts, please e-mail me, or leave Comments here.

Twins Roster Moves

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

The Twins announced that they have outrighted Julio DePaula, Oswaldo Sosa, Ryan Jorgensen and Sergio Santos to AAA Rochester. Also Pat Neshek was taken off of the 60 Day Disabled List. That leaves the Twins 40 man roster at 34.

 

“Outrighted” means that they were taken off of the 40 man roster, put on waivers, cleared waivers and the Twins were able to retain their services. That is never a negative thing.

 

DePaula had great minor league seasons in 2006 and 2007. He made his major league debut early in the 2007. Unfortunately, he was really horrible at Rochester in 2008.

 

Sosa surprises me somewhat. He had another option year left, so despite a terrible 2008 season in which he started at New Britain before heading back to Ft. Myers (where he was an All-Star in 2007) and he didn’t improve. He completely lost control. But he is still just 23 years old and could improve still.

Jorgensen was an easy choice. No one would have claimed him. The Twins need a #3 type of catcher for 2008. He’s not really a great option, but until they find out who else they could sign, there is no reason to drop him completely.

 

I am also a little surprised about Santos being unclaimed. The Twins claimed him in May and he did very little for the Red Wings. I still believe he has some potential due to his size as a shortstop, but he is already 25 and the Twins have several middle infield options.

 

The Twins have plenty of players that they need to add to their 40 man roster, players they would probably lose in the Rule V draft. They were able to get these four through waivers. I still think that they could drop a couple more. The offseason is such a fun time of year, isn’t it?

NFL “Expert” Picks – Week 8 (and Notes)

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Quick Update today before getting to the FB Picks.  It’s been a long week!

 

·         Joe Christensen compares the 2008 seasons of Justin Morneau to that of Ryan Howard, and I think you might be surprised by some of the numbers!

·         Jonathan Mayo wrote a great article on Ben Revere at Instructional League. Great read! I did not know that he had bone chips removed from his knee.

·         Josh Johnson and Aaron Gleeman both addressed the Delmon Young/Matt Cain rumors.

·         I just posted the ballot for the Twins #16 Prospect at Twinkie Town…

·         If you enjoy baseball prospect lists in general, here is a Community Prospect List over at John Sickels Minor League Ball.

Arizona Fall League Thursday Update

·         The Phoenix Desert Dogs got seven strong innings from Max Scherzer in a win.

·         Steve Tolleson went 3-4 with his third double. He scored three runs and drove in three as well.

·         Danny Valencia was 1-3 with a walk.

·         Dustin Martin went 1-4 with a walk.    

Caribbean Winter League Stats

·         Just as a great resource, MiLB.com has set up a place where you can see the statistics in Winter Leagues by organization. So, if you want to see how Twins are doing in Arizona, Venezuela, Dominican Republic or Mexico, just click here. It’s been a rough start for Luke Hughes. To date, he is hitting .100 (2-20) with one walk and seven strikeouts. On the other side, Wilson Ramos is 4-12 (.333) with two doubles and four RBI.

Please feel free to e-mail me at SethSpeaksNet@hotmail.com or Comment Here.

NFL “Expert” Picks

The Panel and The Standings

If you would like to know more about our panelists, or get up to date standings, click here. Here are the updated standings from our group through week six:

The Week 8 Picks

With that, you can find out picks for week 8 at www.SethSpeaks.net .

From the Road …

available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

I am again not at home and have to get some sleep because I have to give a couple of presentations in the morning and have a bunch of meetings in the afternoon. So this will be short.

 

The Phillies won Game 1 of the World Series 3-2 over the Tampa Bay Rays. The big news, in my mind, was learning that Chris Coste would be starting at DH and batting eighth. Sure, he went 0-4 and didn’t hit the ball hard, but again, the story continues to be more and more amazing. Independent leagues. Years at AAA. Finally becoming The 33 Year Old Rookie. Not making the team out of training camp in 2007. Being with the Phillies all of 2008. Starting in Game 1 of the World Series. The best part? As a player with less than three years of big league service time, his salary for the season was probably about $420,000. Not bad. However, if the Phillies elect to give Coste a full share (which they should), and the team wins the World Series, his share will be another $308,000. Even if they lose, he would get $234,000. Not too shabby ,and that type of pay back (along with all the certainly incredible experiences) makes all those years of laboring in the minor leagues worthwhile.

 

It was good to see Grant Balfour pitch well. 1.2 innings or scoreless baseball is great. He was again hitting 96 with the fastball. It was fun for me to see him face Coste. Coste just missed a first-pitch fastball over the plate, and then was jammed on another fastball inside.

 

Here are some additional notes:

·         Jeff Manship posted a new blog at MiLB.com.

·         Manship was voted as the Twins #14 prospect at Twinkie Town. The vote for #15 is now up.  

 

Arizona Fall League Wednesday Update

·         The Phoenix Desert Dogs lost to Scottsdale 11-2.

·         Steve Tolleson went 1-2. He batted second and played SS.

·         Danny Valencia batted fifth and was the team’s 3B. He went 0-5

·         Anthony Slama pitched a scoreless inning. He gave up a hit, but he struckout two.

 

Alright, I better get some sleep. Have a great day! Any thoughts? E-mail me or leave your Comments here.