2012 All-Former Twins Team

With the end of baseball's regular season nearing, and the probability that most of you forgot the Twins are still playing, I thought I'd take a look at trying to craft a 25-man roster out of former Twins.

To be fair, this isn't intended to make the Twins organization look bad. Many players on this team have very valid reasons they aren't with the organization anymore, and it's pretty astonishing to see how good some former Twins have been. Hopefully I didn't blatantly oversee someone, notify me if so. Of course some liberties had to be made.

Starting Rotation:

1. R.A. Dickey, RHP New York Mets

2. Kyle Lohse, RHP St. Louis Cardinals

3. Johan Santana, LHP New York Mets

4. Matt Garza, RHP Chicago Cubs

5. Phil Humber, RHP Chicago White Sox

Bullpen:

Joe Nathan (closer), RHP Texas Rangers; Jon Rauch, RHP New York Mets; Jessie Crain, RHP Chicago White Sox; Grant Balfour, RHP Oakland A's; Pat Neshek, RHP Oakland A's; Craig Breslow, LHP Boston Red Sox; Jose Mijares LHP San Francisco Giants

Lineup:

1. Nick Punto, 2B. Los Angelas Dodgers (S)

2. JJ Hardy, SS. Baltimore Orioles (RH)

3. Torii Hunter, CF. Los Angeles Angels (RH)

4. David Ortiz, DH. Boston Red Sox (LH)

5. Michael Cuddyer, RF. Colorado Rockies (RH)

6. Jason Kubel, LF. Arizona Diamondbacks (LH)

7. Danny Valencia, 3B. Boston Red Sox (RH)

8. Garrett Jones, 1B. Pittsburgh Pirates (LH)

9. A.J. Pierzynski, C. Chicago White Sox (LH)

Bench:

Wilson Ramos, C Washington Nationals (RH);  Jim Thome, DH Baltimore Orioles (LH); Delmon Young, OF Detroit Tigers; Orlando Hudson, IF Chicago White Sox

On the surface there's some real talent on this team. Dickey (18-6, 2.67era, 4.1 K:BB ratio) is the favorite for NL Cy Young award, and Lohse has been almost as good. Humber (4/21) threw a perfect game at Seattle, while Santana (6/2) threw the first no-hitter in Mets history, but neither were not able to sustain any momentum they got from those starts. Kind of sad to see Santana fall apart.

The bullpen is a hodgepodge of former good to great arms for the Twins. Some (Nathan, Mijares) were justifiably let go, while others (Balfour, Breslow) probably should have gotten more of a chance from the Twins. This would've been a pretty damn good bullpen this season, but the Twins have had some great relievers over the last decade, and this year too.

The lineup actually fascinates me. On paper there's some strong name value, and you can balance it pretty well other than having to have Punto leadoff. Pierzynski (.278ba/.325obp/.510slg) had a career year helping lead the White Sox to a probable AL Central title. Hunter (.308/.359/.449) has really became a great veteran filling a leadership role, Kubel (1hr/16ab) is showing the power that was swallowed up by cavernous Target Field, Jones is actually fairly decent, and JJ Hardy is still the face of everything that went wrong in the Bill Smith era. It would also probably be one of the worst defensive teams in the last 30 years.

The bench is atrocious other than Ramos.

Some notable Twins on rosters not to make the cut on my made up roster that played this season: Lew Ford, Livan Hernandez, Brian Fuentes, LaTroy Hawkins, Matt Gurerrier, and Henry Blanco. None made it because either they were awful, injured, or named Lew Ford.

Speaking of injuries one of the big reason this team wouldn't work is because Santana, Garza, Punto, Hardy, Cuddyer, Ortiz, Kubel, Ramos, and Thome all missed significant time to injury this year. So in a way you could say they'd actually still fit in quite well with the Twins.

Also interesting to note is Neshek, Mijares, Punto, Valencia, Thome, and Hudson all were either traded or released and signed by another organization this year. Seems like a lot, no?

However, the biggest reason assembling this team wouldn't work? The payroll would be $153,981,250...

Twins 2013 Home Schedule An Embarrassment

Who signed off on this?

Baseball's 2013 schedule was released today, and judging by the Twins home schedule, it was decided by how good teams performed in 2012.

Consider this: with interleague games being played every day, the Twins and the AL Central have been paired up with the NL East. So who's coming to town? The Mets (4/12-14), Marlins (4/22-23),  and Phillies (6/11-13). The best of that bunch is the Phillies, but they visited Target Field in 2012.

The Twins play the Nationals (6/7-9) and Braves (5/20-22) on the road.

That aside, the home schedule imbalance is the real travesty. I pencil the first full week of June (6/2-8) as the last week of school for most K-12 schools, keep in mind that their are 81 home games and check this out...

29: Home games before June 2-8

3: Homes games from July 5-29 (?!?!?!?!?!)

With nine home games the whole month, five being against the Indians and Royals, I think MLB figured they threw the Twins a bone by giving them a four-game series against the Yankees (7/1-4) for Independence Day but they didn't.

For one, the first and second are a Monday and Tuesday, not a weekend. Second, those games would sell out any date, any year. Third, the Yankee fans come out so it's not like families—we'll get to the families—can get in on the action unless they have season tickets or extra cash to pay third-party sites like StubHub, Ticket King, or scalpers.

Now let's assume that Tuesday September 2nd is the first day of school for K-12 in 2013.

16: Home games POST-Labor Day

This organization is going to have a hard enough time to sell tickets next year. If the only selling point they have is Target Field they are in serious trouble.

I'll do the math for you: 55 percent of home games at Target Field will occur during the school year for families. Who knows what kind of weather could be brought upon us in April and May and the very likely chance this team won't be in contention come September. One rain out in the first few home stands could wreak havoc.

Other than the Twins, the real debate should be who takes a bigger blow: out state/upper-Midwest families who plan that one trip to Minneapolis every Summer—sorry July is pretty much out of the cards—or downtown Minneapolis bars/restaurants—sorry basically one whole month of your prime patio season is wiped out.

The Twins obviously cannot be happy about this, but how does someone from MLB not step in a bring this up?

Jokes Too Long For Facebook/Twitter

-$22 billion worth of diamonds, gold, and jewels were found in the vaults of a secret Indian Temple. When asked how they found the treasure, the archeologists responded:

 "Well first we had to doggie paddle through a three-foot pool, then answer trivia questions on a lighted staircase, followed by a physical challenge involving a see-saw, then we had to get through a maze before giving up all of our medallions to some stunt men dressed as Aztecs. HAHA SCREW YOU, OLMEC!"

-A new company called Spotzot is starting a pilot program with stores like Wal-Mart, Macy's, and Best Buy that would send you, among other things, coupons to your smartphone as you walk into the store. Unfortunately all the coupons are for Amazon.

- Over the weekend the Sunday Night Football game on NBC did better overnight ratings than last years Game Seven of baseball's World Series. When asked for comment, MLB commisioner Bud Selig declined, as he was too busy trying to figure out how to make sure Oakland, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh don't make the playoffs.

- NBC's popular competition show "The Voice" is back for another season this week, and as an added twist it will go up against Fox's "The X Factor". While a ratings war is sure to spurn between the two, it's almost a lock they'll beat The CW's new contest program, "Beauty Pageant Moms and their Pregnant Teens Bake Cakes."

- It was announced that Al Pacino is in negotiations to star in the film biopic of late-Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno. The big question on everyone's mind is who will play the role of disgraced coach Jerry Sandusky. An open casting call will be held next week and all professional clowns, male babysitters, Steve Buscemi look-alikes, and Boy Scout troop leaders are welcome to attend.

- And finally Obie, the 70-pound dachshund has made headlines as his new owner has finally put him on a diet. The new regimen includes low-fat meals and hydrotherapy, and if that doesn't work Taco Bell will be able to feed a nation!

Thank You.

This Is Sportscenter Perfection

You couldn't pay me to watch Sportscenter, but this is gold. Pure gold. After years of the rumors, and truth, of John Clayton's ponytail they take action and go with it. Props to John Clayton!