Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over. Meet the...
Absolute best team in baseball that you've never heard of. The Twins don't spend a lot of money nor do they make a lot of headlines. What they are good at, however, is winning. The Twins won the American League Central Division every year from 2002 to 2004 and again in 2006. In 2007 they finished third in the division and in 2008 they lost a one-game playoff to just miss the post season. This team wins with a small-ball, almost National League feel or approach.
The dream came crashing to an end on Tuesday evening in Toronto when the evil Communists from Venezuela cheateddefeated Italy 10-1 and eliminated them from the World Baseball Classic. It was the second time in a matter of days that the Venezuelans bested the Italians (the first game was a 7-0 "victory"), no doubt because Hugo Chavez bribed the umpires with free gasoline.
It's really a shame too, but not just because of the promise shown by Italy when it sent Canada home after only two games on Monday. No, it's a shame because none of this ever had to happen. The Italians could have beaten Venezuela.
From the Windup is FanHouse's extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.
Michael Young's time with the Texas Rangers has been punctuated by him making personal sacrifices to help better the team. After years as a good second baseman for the team with both the stick and the glove, he didn't have a problem when he was asked to move to shortstop in the wake of the Alex Rodriguez trade and the subsequent arrival of Alfonso Soriano. Sure, Young's offensive numbers didn't quite stand out at short quite like they did at second base, but it was about the team, not Michael Young
Since his move he's won a Gold Glove and has been named to the AL All-Star team five times. Well, now the Rangers would like him to make another sacrifice and move from shortstop to third base so they can make room for prospect Elvis Andrus. Only this time Young isn't down, and he's told the Rangers he's stood all he can stand and that he can't stand no more. He wants to be traded.
Now that Barry Bonds' tenure as a San Francisco Giant is only three days away, speculation over where baseball's new home run king will end up is running rampant. Common sense leads most to believe that Barry will end up in the American League where he can DH full time.
The only problem is that the more "attractive" teams in the American League already seem to be set at DH. The Red Sox have Papi, the Yankees have Jason Giambi (maybe they can share needles!), the White Sox have Jim Thome, the Tigers have Gary Sheffield, and the Indians have Travis Hafner.
The Twins can't speak about Bonds right now without tampering, but Twins manager Ron Gardenhire left some strong hints Thursday when asked about the team's DH wishes for 2008.
"I guarantee we would find a way," Gardenhire said, laughing. "We had [Ortiz] once. I'm not tampering. I'm just saying: I would find a way."
The odds of this actually happening are pretty remote, and quite frankly, it would be stupid of the Twins to do it anyway. Yes, they probably could use some help scoring more runs next season, especially with the likely departure of Torii Hunter, but I'm not sure Bonds is the right answer.
First of all, he's too expensive. The money they give him would be better served if put towards new contracts for Johan Santana and Joe Nathan. Not to mention that big lumberjack who plays first base could use a new contract as well.
Second of all, Bonds doesn't strike me as the type of guy the Twins generally go for. Minnesota seems to prefer the little guy who's fundamentally sound without an ego than the type of guy who's head is bigger than Nick Punto and is generally considered a problem in the clubhouse. Even if he does have a kabillion home runs.
I still think he ends up in either Anaheim or possibly Oakland.
You'd think a guy hitting .205 with a .552 OPS in September might head into the winter worried about his starting job. Not so fast, says Ron Gardenhire, who recently said he's leaning toward moving Nick Punto from third base to second, despite the fact that his performance at the plate this year suggests that he'd struggle against the local American Legion team that plays down the street. From La Velle E. Neal's blog on the Star-Tribune:
" We already know what we've got with Nick,'' Gardy said. "We know we've got a player. And (Alexi Casilla) has all the tools in the world. Nothing's a given. You have to go out and play. But if we were to start right now I would say Nick would have a head up on him, believe me there. I know what he can do, catch the ball and make all the plays. So he's got a lead going into spring training, as far as I'm concerned.
"I hope he comes out and has a good spring. I like him in my lineup, somewhere. He makes things exciting. But he's got to play. Got to come back and rebound, we all know that.''
Honestly, I think this is an outstanding decision. Of course, I say that as a Tigers fan and not someone looking out for the Twins' best interest. Because otherwise, I'd think that it's because the Twins know what they have in Punto that they'd be willing to give Casilla a chance, not the other way around. Granted, Casilla hasn't hit much better in limited big-league action this year, but he's only 22 years old and has a career .298 average in the minors.
But hey, everyone knows baseball isn't won with numbers like hits and runs and outs! No, it's won with grit and hustle and heart. And who has more than Little Nick Punto?
Baseball is a historic game, and history is made every day.
Unlike all those previous accolades, not all marks are positive. I mean, some marks are just embarrassing. Imagine finishing an entire season with a batting average under .200. Wouldn't that be embarrassing? Nobody's done it since Rob Deer did it in 1991 with a stellar .179 average. Way below his career mark of .220.
Nick Punto finds himself in dangerous territory. His current batting average sits at .198, and the man who helped spark the Twins to a division title last season, and received a 2-year $4.2 million deal this offseason is in danger of becoming only the fourth player in 32 years to finish under .200.
The pressure has to be getting to him.
"No, not really," he said. "I'd love to finish at .300, but that's not going to happen. There's no difference between .195 and .210."
Actually, Nick, there's a fifteen point difference, but only an ass such as myself would feel the need to point that out. I have absolutely nothing against Nick Punto, but I do like to dabble in some schadenfreude once in a while, and I'm going to be "rooting" for him to finish under .200. It's probably got more than a little something to do with all the hits he racked up against the White Sox last season.
Bad luck to you, sir! May your dribblers never find a hole, and your bloopers never miss a glove.
The Mets are close to acquiring second baseman Luis Castillo from the Twins for two minor leaguers, according to major-league sources.
Castillo would replace Jose Valentin, who recently suffered a season-ending broken shin when he fouled a pitch off his leg.
Now while this trade may not solve all of the Mets problems, having Luis Castillo teamed up with Jose Reyes atop of their order, it will lead to a lot of runs.
As for the Twins, if there were any questions remaining on how they were going to treat the rest of this season, I think this provides the answer. For now they'll fill the spot with Nick Punto and Jeff Cirillo, and could be interested in Morgan Ensberg at third base.
With Castillo being a free agent at the end of the season, it was unlikely he'd have stayed in Minnesota considering they have bigger fish to fry in Justin Morneau and Johan Santana. There's also Alexi Casilla down at Triple-A who's just waiting to take over the second base position in Minnesota.
That's Torii Hunter, in a much, much happier place than he was in on Tuesday night, when he was ejected following an animated eruption targeted at home plate umpire Ron Kulpa. From the Star-Tribune:
Why did Hunter erupt? The Twins weren't happy with what Kulpa said to Hunter after he was called out on strikes in the seventh inning as well as what Kulpa said to Punto in the eighth.
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said any investigation should start with the umpires.
"They ought to walk over there and ask him what he said to Nick Punto after the pitch, that's what that league ought to do," Gardenhire said. "[And] what he told Torii at home plate on the pitch was wrong. He said, 'That was a nasty slider.' It was a fastball.
Umm ... I'm missing something, right? Calling a fastball a slider can't be that big of a deal, can it? In any case, the Twins now have to wait and see if Hunter will be handed down a suspension, which has been the norm following some recent explosions by players.
When you think of the Minnesota Twins, what kind of team do you picture? Odds are you think they're just a team that doesn't have as much talent as the big market teams, but they're scrappy and do what it takes to win. Well, you could be half right.
The notion that the Twins have less talent than other teams in the Majors is ridiculous. They have the reigning AL MVP, AL batting champion, and the AL Cy Young on their roster. They also have a Gold Glove centerfielder, and an untouchable closer. Talent is something the Twins have plenty of.
But why is it we consider the Twins to be scrappy competitors while at the same time we think of other teams as dirty? They all do the same things.
One day after being swept by those cuddly little overachievers from Minnesota, the White Sox still were shaking their heads. They weren't so much baffled about being completely outplayed for three days as they were with how the Twins get away with playing as dirty as any team in baseball, but because it's Minnesota -- the sport's perceived ''Little Engine That Could'' -- it's excused as ''hard-nosed.''
Want evidence?
While Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski still was being treated like Public Enemy No. 1 because he dared to accidentally clip Justin Morneau's foot Monday, there was Twins third baseman Nick Punto in the ninth inning Wednesday, going into second base hard on an attempted force play.
Punto thrust his right forearm into the ribs of Tadahito Iguchi, knocking the Sox second baseman sideways. ''Sewer dirty,'' one Sox player labeled it.
But after all, it was Punto -- Gizmo from ''Gremlins.'' Just don't get any water on him, feed him after midnight or let him near the exposed rib cage of a 195-pound Japanese man.
Could you imagine the outrage if it had been Pierzynski?
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over. 
The dream came crashing to an end on Tuesday evening in Toronto when the evil Communists from Venezuela 
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When you think of the Minnesota Twins, what kind of team do you picture? Odds are you think they're just a team that doesn't have as much talent as the big market teams, but they're scrappy and do what it takes to win. Well, you could be half right.
