Gardy Hate

I've often been accused of unreasonable hate for Ron Gardenhire. I will not deny that some of his judgement calls often confuse me, occasionally to the point of bewilderment, but saying I "hate" him is taking it too far. I simply disagree with several of his managerial decisions, whether it be leaving Nathan in for a 3rd inning against the heart of a thunderous Yankee's lineup, despite not pitching more than 1-2 innings all year, or playing Nick Punto through all of 2007 hoping to regain his 2006 form even though, with minimal research, you can find that, throughout his career, 2007 was closer to the norm than 2006. Jesus--you really need to try to get a 52 OPS+. Gardy seems like a nice guy. I always want to give him the benefit of the doubt, but then he goes and says stuff like this.

"Kubel will be in there every once and a while." --Ron Gardenhire

What's he talking about Kubel being in? The whirlpool? The outfield? No my friends, gardy means the lineup. That's right. Gardy is thinking that Kubel should only be in the lineup "every once in a while."

"Every (chains) once (handcuffs) in (straight jacket) a (zip ties), while (jail cell)."

FREE JASON KUBEL!!!!!!!!!!!!

On a related note pertaining to Gardy's...umm...wisdom:

Livan Hernandez, he of declining skills, a deadly, mid-80s fastball, and a 9.69 ERA to go along with a 2.00+ WHIP this spring, is going to be our opening day starter.

May God help us all.

The Case for Kubel, Part 1

Craig Monroe, Kubel's main competition at DH this year, has had a few good games recently. Most notably, he's hit two homers--something attractive to Gardenhire and a Twins organization that is searching to replace Torii Hunter's power. Fortunately, Kubel followed Monroe's homer on Saturday with one of his own.

I want to make it clear I have nothing against Monroe--he's a nice guy and a decent baseball player. That being said, he's much older than Kubel (in baseball terms), has a more defined MLB track record, and would best serve this team--in a year they won't contend--as a spot-starter in the outfield and pinch-hitter. The main purpose of this blog is to promote Jason Kubel and prevent Gardy from stunting his growth (actually, recovery to what he's capable of) by giving him around only 300 ABs this season.

Jason Kubel needs at least 550 ABs this year--whether in LF or at DH--to show what he can do over a full season. Look at his line in 350 ABs at AAA before he blew out his knee in the 2005 AFL.

.343/.398/.560 with 16 homers, 28 doubles, and, most importantly, a K:BB of 40:34. Hell, he even stole 16 bases while only being caught 3 times (although to count on him for SB now would be unwise).

If there was a player in the Twins organization who did that last year at AAA, he'd be ranked as the top prospect in the Twins minor league system.

Unfortunately, he blew out his knee in the AFL and spent all of 2005 rehabbing it. Then, when he came back in 2006, he overcompensated with his other knee and it began to bother him. The 2007 season started with what many now consider (foolishly) to be Jason Kubel's talent level--struggling at the plate and often looking uncomfortable, with occasional pop and a sluggish glove in LF. However, at the end of the 2007 season, his numbers began to approach those of his 2004 season at AAA--his average rose, he walked more and struck out less and hit for more power. These are all good things for a hitter to show. Here are the numbers he put up before and after the All-star break in 2007:

Pre-ASB (240 ABs): .250/.302/.404 with 7 homers, 16 doubles, and a K:BB of 46:18

Post-ASB (178 ABs): .303/.379/.511 with 6 homers, 15 doubles, and a K:BB of 33:23

Nevermind that his AVG, OBP, and SLG all improved, but he managed to put up the same power numbers in 62 fewer ABs. The best sign is the return of his eye at the plate. That jump in OBP makes anyone with any baseball knowledge salivate. I guess it wouldn't if you were Gardy, or Dusty Baker.

I'm not saying Kubel is going to go out and put up a .300-25-100 season, but in a season where the Twins will not compete for anything but 3rd in the AL Central, what do they have to lose by giving a kid who was once one of their most promising prospects 550 ABs? Why give Monroe, a "veteran" who has struggled in recent years and never been a great player, more or even equal ABs than someone who could prove to be one of the Twins better offensive weapons over the next five, eight, even ten years?

Watch out!

Gardenhire's two most favorite people in the whole wide world are Little Nicky Punto and Garret Jones. And guess what? Gardenhire's going to think long and hard about sending Jones back to AAA. According to the Star Tribune:
"The Twins' final roster spot could come down to Garrett Jones vs. Brian Buscher. Jones is out of minor league options, so he'd have to clear waivers before being sent to Class AAA Rochester.

'He won't make it" through waivers without getting claimed, Gardenhire said. 'That's something you have to really think about.'"

It's pretty obvious at this point that Kubel is going to have to compete with Craig Monroe AND Garret Jones. FREE JASON KUBEL!

Welcome

This blog has been created to free Jason Kubel from the narrow mind of Ron Gardenhire. It is a shame that we need to speculate on how many ABs Kubel should be given during the 2008 season. Anything under 500 would be a tragedy.

This blog will contain commentary on quotations from Gardy regarding Kubel--his lack of hustle, his weak speed, his going 0 for 2 with 2 walks, how Monroe has more power than Kubel, and so on.  There will probably be other posts regarding other Twins news, but most will either focus around Gardy's inability to see the true talents (or failures) of his players.

That being said, welcome, and go Twins in 2008.