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I hope the Twins keep him since he a hometown kid. I am sure some team will give him a $200 million contract.

If we don't keep him, we may as well pack it in. Fans will vote with their feet and it's likely the new Target Field will get burned down.

Modern construction standards will cause the stadium to be fire-retardant.

Oh and how I would LOVE Joe Mauer to play for the Tigers. He is seriously great and appears to be a good guy too.

And I should know......

Looks like Teixiera is giving him a run too. He was a great signing for the Yanks. These 2 guys are good for the sport

How can you qualify for MVP on the ninth ranked team in the American League and a sub .500 team?

I mean its not like opposing teams are setting up their "ace" starters against Minn like they do against the Yankees, Angels and Red Sux.

Fair point but occasionally a player outperforms the rest of the league enough that he overcomes that.

And this isn't the playoffs. Most pitchers pitch every fifth day regardless of competition. I wouldn't count that against Mauer.

It isn't a fair point at all, IMO. Without Mauer this year, the Twins would have been out of the race long since. That clearly makes him the Most Valuable Player. It's an individual award and the team should have nothing to do with it other than gauging the effect the player has had. There is no way that Jeter has had the same impact on the Yankees as Mauer has on the Twins.

I think that's pretty accurate but generally speaking MVP's come from winning teams...right or wrong, with the exception of the occasional Andre Dawson thrown in.

I completely agree with what you say but I still think the concept is total BS if team performance is the driver.

Three of the Twins starters are on the DL: Slowey, Perkins and Liriano, yet the Twins are still in contention. They have been spot filling those starting positions. Mauer hit 391 in the month of August, 8 homeruns and 23 RBI's, but it its not just the offense, I think he is just as valuable or more behind the plate defensively and calling the games.

2 back

I read a NY Times article about Jeter and how he should get the MVP over Mauer because Jeter's role as leader and all around great guy should make up for the massive statistical difference. GTFO!

The MVP has and always will be an INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD. Just because a small market team can't go out and sign every name out there, doesn't mean a player should have to suffer. NY just needs to get over the fact that they don't have the best player in baseball on their team. If I was starting a team, I'd still take the M&M boys before anyone in NY and I think a lot of other people would too.


Oh and 2 games Dome Sweet Dome.

Ok, 3 back again


Twins really have no business being in a pennant race this season, but they sure make it fun every September

More than most sports franchises, they make it fun.

It'd be good for baseball (imo) if Mauer won MVP and Greinke won Cy Young...

Grienke is on fire ... really closing out the year strong ... and is pitching so much better than anyone else in the AL, it'd be a shame if anyone else won the AL Cy Young.

AL Pitching Leaders

These seven categories (wins, ERA, shutouts, strikeouts, WHIP, slugging and OBA) are each (currently) led by one of three guys -- Greinke, Sabathia, Hernandez and Verlander. So, considerinly only the players in the top 10 in wins, here is how each of these three guys ranks in all seven categories:

Greinke:
t-6th Wins (15)
1st ERA (2.08)
1st Shutouts (3)
2nd Strikeouts (229)
1st WHIP (1.06)
2nd Slugging (.336)
1st OBA (.272)

Sabathia:
1st Wins (18)
4th ERA (3.31)
t-5th Shutouts (1)
7th Strikeouts (186)
2nd WHIP (1.13)
4th Slugging (.361)
2nd OBA (.287)

Verlander:
t-3rd Wins (16)
6th ERA (3.44)
t-5th Shutouts (1)
1st Strikeouts (245)
6th WHIP (1.18)
6th Slugging (.376)
6th OBA (.297)

Hernandez:
t-3rd Wins (16)
2nd ERA (2.45)
t-5th Shutouts (1)
4th Strikeouts (196)
3rd WHIP (1.14)
1st Slugging (.320)
3rd OBA (.288)

...the only thing Grienke hasn't been able to do this year is get consistent run support...and that is hardly his problem...

Hard to argue with you. Dude has been on fire all year. As much as I like Verlander, Greinke should get it. Only real competition is Sabathia I believe. Verlander will probably be 3rd.

...note that I missed that Fernandez is the leader in lowest slugging...I added him after you replied...

...also note that Greinke should have at least two more starts...and if he can hang a "one-handle" on that ERA of his (not sure if he can statistically or not), he should be a lock (regardless of whether or not he wins the final two starts or not...

If Grienke pitches 18 innings in his final two starts and allows two earned runs or less, he will end up with an ERA of less than 2.00 ...

Greinke should win it for sure. I mean to have six complete games with three of them being shut outs and still pitching at such a high level is insane. He just dismantled Boston and Detroit like they were the Nationals but really it boils down to the WHIP of 1.09 which is why I think he gets it over Verlander.

Nooooooooo! I think his last two starts are against the Twins.

Yes. Yes they are.

Greinke wins his first of two against the Twins......only one run given up. He's a no-brainer Cy Young winner.

If he throws 7 shutout innings in his final start, his era will be 1.9927 ... 6 2/3 scoreless innings gets him to 1.9956 ...

And, yes, his final start is scheduled to be in MIN.

While we're talking "great pitching on a bad team", here is the single season "exhibit A" and the career "exhibit A":

Single Season: Steve Carlton
27-10 ... .730 W/L % ... 1.97 ERA ... 0.993 WHIP ... 10 complete games ... 8 shutouts ... 310 strikeouts ... 346 innings pitched

TEAM THAT YEAR = 59-97 (.378) ... or .269 in games that Carlton didn't get a decision in ...


Career: Walter Johnson
417-279 ... .599 W/L % ... 2.17 ERA ... 1.061 WHIP ... 531 complete games ... 110 shutouts ... 3509 strikeouts ... 5914 innings pitched

TEAM W/L FOR CAREER = 1558-1610 (.492) ... or .462 in games that Johnson didn't get a decision in ...

NOTE: During a 10yr stretch (1910-1919), Walter Johnson was 265-143 (.650) while the Senators were 755-737 (.506) --- or .452 in games that Johnson didn't figure in.

Twins win the day half of the doubleheader to pull within one.

Guess Mauer can be considered for MVP now that were almost contenders.

Was at the game tonight. Great atmosphere and very entertaining game. Thought Granderson's bad judgment in the outfield may do the Tigers in.

Each team squeaked one. Wouldn't surprise me to see a series split which would suit the Tigers fine.

Yeah... They really need to take these next two to have any shot. Otherwise, they go into the weekend still down 2 games, which would mean they would need a lot of help to get it done. Either way, I have mixed feelings about this run they're on... It's always nice to see them come from out of nowhere to contend for the playoffs. On the other hand, part of me can't help but feel like they have no business being in a pennant race right now, considering the injuries they've endured. Not to mention, if they were to somehow pull it off, it would set up another post-season meeting with the Yankees, and we all know how MN usually fares in that matchup.

I guess Gardenhire deserves a lot of credit, though... he really knows how to make something out of nothing, so to speak.

Yeah - it would be nice, but very painful...

1) The objective of all teams is to win the world series.
2) You can't win the world series unless you're playing ball in October.

FYI.

Jim Leyland says Gardenhire is the best manager in baseball. He might well be right. You can quibble about some of his in-game decisions but overall this bunch compete, year in, year out and there are virtually no locker room shenanigans - none that last anyway. Ask Ozzie Guillen what he thinks of the Twins.

Whether we pull it off or not, it's been a heck of a ride again......that 10 run lead we blew at Oakland months ago might still bite our ass.

No offense, but I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish with this post, besides stating the obvious. All I'm saying is the Yankees have the Twins' number, in the post-season as well as the regular season. I'd be surprised if there is a more lop-sided matchup in baseball, in terms of how poorly the Twins have played NY over the past few years. Not only 0-7 against them this year, but 16-46 against them since Gardenhire took over in 2002.

One of Mauer's less discussed skills

Thats pretty funny but not unusual. Thats why they change signs...

1 game back again..............

Lets just hope Blackie brings his 'A' game and the hit Greinke hard. I went to the game last night and it was a blast...at least the 1st 5 innings. Tomorrow is going to be rockin as well. The are lifting the outfield curtain to sell more seats. There will probably be 50K+ Saturday and Sunday.

Hopefully.

Sunday was sold out months ago because its the last game in the dome. Big celebration with the world series teams along with the "all Metrodome Team" voted by the fans.

4-0



Great at-bat by Mauer.

Royals made it interesting... What a game.

Great game!!!

Lets go White Sox!!!

White Sox up 2 already.

The Tigers surely are trying to choke this division away. We needed the first two so we could rest Verlander tomorrow. Now he'll have to pitch regardless of what happens tonight.