Cup of Coffee

May 25, 2011: Join Together

87 Comments

I hereby offer a big, hearty thank you to those who have emailed, commented or otherwise well-wished about my being laid off (and, unfortunately, some of you can relate). I think it'll all come together, but the uncertainty in between is just...nightmare fuel.

87 thoughts on “May 25, 2011: Join Together”

  1. Having been unemployed in the past, I can tell you that it will all come together, but yes, the uncertainty is really hard. I remember applying for all kinds of jobs I really wanted and didn't get. It can get really discouraging sometimes.

    I look back on it now and I'm thankful I didn't get those jobs I thought I wanted, because things worked out so much better with the job I finally got. It can be hard to trust that, though, when you're in the middle of the situation. All I can tell you is to hang in there. Things will work out in the long run.

  2. Great moments in game recaps:

    "Josh Hamilton, the guy who called out his third-base coach for breaking his humerus on a headfirst slide at the plate, slid headfirst into first, second and third base in succession."

  4. Minor Details will be taking tomorrow off, and quite possibly taking Friday off as well, as I'll be gone to spend a little time in my new parish.

    We got our official moving date the other day. Our stuff will be loaded here on June 23 and unloaded in Gettysburg June 25. Getting the actual date hit me harder than I thought it would. I guess it's one thing to know you're moving at some point, and another to know the exact date. We still have the same mixed feelings one always has, sadness at leaving friends behind but anticipation of making new friends and meeting new challenges. It's just that knowing the date made those feelings a lot more real and immediate.

    I'm assuming that my posting for much of the next month and a half will be somewhat sporadic. I'll be around when I can be, and when I'm not, I'll be thinking of all of you.

    1. We'll all be thinking of you too, Padre. I'm sure I can speak for everyone when I say we really appreciate everything you do here and we wish you the best for the move and your new adventures.

  5. Nick Blackburn leads the Twins starters in innings pitched, innings per start and ERA (by almost a full run over Baker) and his K rate of 4.9 would be a career high for a full season.

    1. Scott Baker still leads the starters in xFIP (Blackburn is second) and tERA (Blackburn is still last among starters in the stat which incorporates batted ball data).

      2. I don't get that. Batted ball data should help Blackburn. He is far and away the best on the team in inducing ground balls. It seems like Baker is always underperforming his xFIP for whatever reason.

        1. More fly balls means more risk of homers, but more ground balls means more risk of hits in general, which equals more guys on base, which usually equals slightly more runs. Blackburn's LD% (generally the worst type of batted ball for a pitcher) is also the worst of the starters.

          1. Plus Baker, being a fly ball pitcher, induces more pop-ups which are near guaranteed outs.

              1. Well, I've been hearing frequently from someone that our main outfielders all have great defensive numbers so far this year.

      3. I'll still place my bet with Spooky from the start of the season that Blackie outpitches Slowey this year. I'd add and at least two of Pavano/Liriano/Baker/Duensing. But we'd have to agree on what metrics. IP is not bad, since if you aren't pitching, you aren't helping. And if you pitch poorly enough, you're not going to get innings.

  6. I haven't been laid off yet (knock on wood), but I had the toughest time finding a job out of school. Over my senior year I interviewed right around 50 times with pretty much every company in the metro area that would hire engineers. Finally, in the midst of completing my senior project and finishing up finals, I got an offer, much to my relief.

    Long way of saying, best of luck and keep your head up!

    1. my eldest nephew had a similar experience, interviewing for about a year AFTER graduating before finding an engineering job. A few months later, this spring, the company went belly-up. Fun times.

    2. I was unemployed for about four months once. It would have been much more bearable if someone could have told me it would "only" be for four months, but with the unknowns, you pretty much have to shut down all spending. As a positive, I did get to spend a lot more quality time with Runner daughter, who was just under a year old at the time.

        1. I should probably start thinking about putting that plastics portion of my degree to use then, eh?

        3. My career decision making in high school was pretty much "I like math and science. I have no idea what engineers do, but I'm pretty sure they make okay money and are always in demand, so that's what I'll do". So far, it's worked reasonably well.

    4. I was laid off a few years back after 9 years with the company. I should have seen it coming they would go through a series of layoffs every year or so, but I thought I was far enough up they wouldn't get me. The company ended up getting sold and then going belly up just this past year. I was only out of work for a couple months, found a job that I ended up hating. Stuck that out for about 7-8 months to pay the bills then found my current job, which I love. Long story short, these things often work out for the best if you keep plugging away. Incidently I really enjoyed my 2 months of unemployment.

  7. I wish Daneeka's Ghost and I had laid a wager on our predictions regarding the biggest choke artist in the NHL Western Conference, since as I recall I identified the Sharks as such, and he went with the Canucks, who advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals last night.

      1. My brother was extremely upset about this last night. I've watched a handful of games this post season, mostly the Canucks games since it's the city I'd most like to live in of the teams in the Playoffs. He's an Avalanche fan, so he's been raging about the Canucks for weeks. If they win the Cup, I will buy him a championship t-shirt.

      2. Although, to be pedantic about it (because, hey, it's the internet), neither team really choked. This was the conference finals between the 1- and 2-seed, in which the 1-seed won and the 2-seed didn't play particularly poorly.

        The NHL playoffs haven't really had a big choke this year (freealonzo has reminded me of the Capitals - so, only one choke).

        1. The Sharks did come closest by almost choking against the Red Wings, but point taken.

    2. I would have cleaned up with both of you by picking the Washington Capitals.

      1. Hoey has pitched very well in Rochester since being sent back down, for whatever that's worth.

        1. What that tells me is that Hoey is a decent AAA pitcher, and the organization should strive to keep him at that level.

        1. Honestly, I'm questioning if the front office braintrust does these days...

          To me this is a simple fix: stretch Slowey out and put Duensing in the bullpen. This is how the season should have started, but hey. Instead of fixing the problem with their assets, they're using every media avenue they have to crap all over Slowey instead. And hey, look at that, he was hurt all along! I have a really, really bad taste in my mouth about this and they haven't even traded him for peanuts yet.

          1. Except Duensing has a 4.06 FIP this year and his career FIP is a little bit better than Slowey's. What should have happened is optioning Slowey to Rochester from the beginning and let him work as a starter. He's had recent injuries and so it makes sense to let him figure out things on a consistent basis in a less stressful environment.

            1. I think that would have been helpful, but he was lights out in ST, and they had very, very few options for the 'pen. When I look it up on Fangraphs, it looks like Slowey's FIP & xFIP are lower, but they're so close it's basically a wash. My thought on Slowey starting and Duensing in the 'pen is that Duensing has a couple years of experience as a reliever, and he's been effective there. Slowey has very little relief experience. It seems like the Twins just assumed Slowey would turn into Matt Guerrier mk. II, which obviously didn't happen. With the bullpen in total flux, my choice would be to go with the guy who has bullpen experience, instead of the guy who could be a reliable bullpen option.

              But that ship has obviously sailed, so it's just a thought.

          2. Yeah, it's really stupid. There is no way that a healthy Slowey is not one of the top 12 pitchers in the Twins organization. They need to have their best pitchers on the roster and the only way Slowey can be on the roster is as a starter. Duensing was brillian as a reliever and has always been a guy to do whatever you ask and he can be a setup guy for the Twins. Even if you want to trade Slowey, he has zero trade value being unavailable in the bullpen. It will improve a little if he starts in AAA, but would improve significantly if he can show he can pitch just fine as a starter in the majors. By dumping on Slowey and refusing to move Duensing, the Twins are just going to end up selling very low.

    1. *Hit location data is from katron
      I've been meaning to send him an email if he would like the data to be in an easier to parse format.

  12. In good news, the Veteran's Administration does not block the WGOM! I'll only be able to access it on my official breaks, but one fix will hopefully be enough.

    1. If your experience is anything like mine, you'll find that the VA is too busy running itself and its patients in circles to develop any kind of coherent policy, IT-related or otherwise. That's purely a comment on the bureaucratic side of the VA; Mrs. Hayes' dad is retiring from the Omerha VA after practicing there for 30-ish years, and a good friend of mine just completed her MSW here at UW-Madison by working at the Madison VA hospital.

      1. while we are complaining about the VA, I will mention that state vet departments still receive information about veterans (e.g., the DD-214 from DOD) on paper.

        It is all but inconceivable to me that, in this day and age, our state vet service agencies are forced to waste resources transcribing individual vets' bio information by hand. I'll stop before I go any further into the Forbidden Zone.

      2. From my limited experience, I have witnessed patients and practitioners show great satisfaction with the medical care at the VA while being perpetually annoyed when needing to get access to their medical charts and other info.

        One time I needed a history and physical on a patient who just admitted to my nursing home. They needed a release of information form. We got it six weeks later. Most places get it to you within a few hours.

        1. My dad's been generally happy with the care he's received at the VA. And more importantly, my mother has been happy with the care he's received.

  13. The Rays designated Rob Delaney for assignment today. Anyone the Twins can remove from the 40 man to claim him?

  15. Former KC Royal lefty and tv announcer Paul Splittorff dead of melanoma at 64.

    3. He's the fourth starter (behind Dierker, Phil Niekro, and Steve Hargan) on my league leading Minnesota Empire Builders in a 1972 OOTP league.

  17. From an article at TwinCities.com which basically says Slowey's done as a Twin:

    "I'm not going to punish Duensing because one guy can't pitch out of the bullpen, I'll tell you that right now," Gardenhire said. "Take Duensing. Maybe he could (pitch out of the bullpen). Sure, we know he can, but I won't punish this young man because another guy can't do it. To me, that's wrong. I like Duensing in the rotation. I like the kid. So he's in there. I think it's unfair to punish Brian Duensing."

    Emphasis is mine. What a stupid mess. Later in the article Duensing says it wouldn't be a punishment or demotion to pitch out of the bullpen. Just like Kevin Slowey did at the beginning of the season, which is something that is missing in all of these hatchet pieces coming out about the guy. C'est la vie.

    1. To give the devil his due, in Gardy-speak, I think "I like the kid" really means "I like what he brings as a starting pitcher in our rotation" rather than the more obvious "I wish I was having a beer with Dunce right now."

      1. Oh, I definitely think that's what he meant. However, I think there's a lot of decisions made by Gardy by how buddy-buddy he is with that specific gentleman on his roster.

  18. The difference is that Slowey is now saying he can't do it and he wants to be a starter. Dunning has always said either is fine, whatever the team needs I can do.

    These are human beings. I'm guessing it wouldn't go over well in the clubhouse if Slowey pouted his way into the rotation, whereas Duensing is the ultimate team guy getting pushed aside.

    1. If Slowey's body is not reacting well to relieving, I don't see that as him "pouting his way" into the rotation. They put him out there, and it didn't work. And instead of admitting that it didn't work, they're running him out of town. I don't think that is right.

      1. But it would probably be perceived that way. And whether it's true or not, how do you reward Slowey over Duensing after everything that's transpired?

        1. This whole "reward/punishment" dichotomy is only coming from Gardenhire (and his mouthpieces, of which you seem to be one), the guy who has disliked Slowey for a long time before this. Look at the quotes - Duensing doesn't perceive it as a punishment or reward at all. What about doing what makes the team better? If they're both decent starters, and one of them is a good reliever, why should putting guys in the roles they can perform in be "rewarding/punishing" them?

          One of the main reasons I saw articulated for why Blackburn should have been in the rotation over Slowey before the season started was that people thought Blackburn was less likely to be a good reliever than Slowey, whether or not either one of them was better than the other as a starter. That was all speculation, though; neither Slowey or Blackburn had enough appreciable relieving experience from which to draw that conclusion. Now that we're again looking at two guys for one rotation spot and potentially one bullpen spot, why is the argument suddenly that the guy who is worse out of the bullpen should suck it up and fill that role anyway? What happened to maximizing the effectiveness of these guys in their best roles? How is that "punishment"?

          2. Yep, plus the bullpen right now is a sucking chest wound on the Twins' season. The Twins should be getting a check from FEMA any day now. The Twins refuse to call up Chuck James and refuse to put Duensing in the bullpen and we're left with the possibility of the Twins trying to end a nine-game home losing streak with Alex Burnett or Dusty Hughes trying to get the save. How many AAA teams have better bullpens than the Twins right now? and that includes Rochester.

          3. On one hand, I do believe that to move a capable young starter into the bullpen is a sort of punishment, in that it potentially hurts his career. On the other hand, I'm totally with you on your larger, main point that the manager needs to get the most out of his roster. If Slowey didn't really want to be in the bullpen, and he has an option year left, I really don't understand why the Twins wouldn't send him to Rochester to start the season. Especially if they don't get along with him. BS said himself that it's unusual to go this long into the season without needing an additional starter. Well, it's easier to bring Slowey up from Rochester into the rotation than it is to wind him down into the bullpen and then build him up again all while he's on the 25-man roster.

            The underlying problem is that the Twins didn't have six (emphasized for not being seven) guys to make a decent bullpen going into the season. It's one thing to be working on a Perkins-to-bullpen conversion, but it's not the sign of a great master plan when you're pushing three starters (Perkins, Manship, and Slowey) into the 'pen all at once.

  19. Luke Hochevar in Baltimore tonight*: 6IP, 0ER, 2H, 0BB, 1K

    *other than in the fourth inning: IP, 8R, 7ER, 6H, 2 2B, 3BB.
    Just as Blackburn was his own closer last night, Hochevar was his own groundskeeper today. How often does a guy blow up like that and still get to pitch another three innings?

    1. Hochevar has been a pretty good fantasy pick up for me. But today, I started both him and Baltimore's Arrieta. I'm just glad the W didn't go to a bullpen.

    2. It's extremely rare when the blowup happens that late in a game. The Royals' bullpen must be really hurting. I see Ozzie Guillen do it more than anybody, and it works more often than not, at least the pitcher gets through a few more innings without significant damage. I think his theory is the game's already lost, why waste the bullpen for tomorrow's game as well. Let's make the starter use up his pitches. Obviously, you take the guy out if he just can't get anybody out, but if he's getting outs, who cares if you're eight, nine or 10 runs down. What are the odds a long reliever is going to be any better than the starter anyways?

      1. I think that strategy should be used a little more often than it is right now, but I think the argument against it is that it is demoralizing for the field players if "the manager doesn't do anything." Veteran starters tend to get more of a chance to keep going after a bad inning, presumably because his teammates have some faith in him if he's been around and it seems less like giving up.

  20. Reusse bringing out the big guns. I agree with a lot of it, but his first blame is for Mauer after saying it was OK for Morneau to take all the time he needed, Mauer was supposed to rush back and play the most demanding position on the field. Nevermind that the reason he is hurt now is because he rushed his return from knee surgery to start the season on time. I do agree on why so many players are so awful and still have jobs with the Twins. Are the Twins that worried that someone with claim them? Is there no way to replace Butera, Casilla or Tolbert? He attacks Repko, but it's not like Repko has had much of an impact either way on the Twins. He's just Thome's caddy and a once-a-month day off for Span. Let Revere and Tosoni play every day in Rochester. The Red Wings might actually be able to save their season.

    1. The big problem is that this is a terrible time to be on the market to acquire players. Other teams have their own injury issues and need bodies for depth just like we do. The time to shore up the depth on this team was last December (and the December before that.)

      In terms of just players with negative fWAR, the Twins have -4.8 WAR so far. And hell, 21-27 looks pretty good right now. The Twins' below-replacement performances have been as harmful as Jose Bautista has been good this year. So Reusse's criticism of the scrubs holds water.

      The reason I can't take this (and most) criticism of Mauer seriously is that we would have heard nothing but how it was the end of the world if the Twins didn't re-sign Mauer. We traded away Santana and all we hear is that we didn't get enough of a return, not that Santana has been vastly overpaid and injury-prone since he left. So every time the team has a free agent worth a damn, the press either tells us that the team was being cheap in not retaining the player, or if he is signed, anything short of perfection is magnified as the reason for the team's problems. It's really tiresome. I would love for Mauer to be back, but I don't question his desire to come back, either.

      1. This take on Mauer is spot on. He rushed back to play and got hurt. I'd rather he not rush back and get hurt again. But boy do I want him to be back on the roster, at least I wouldn't have to watch Butera be absolutely overmatched 3-4 times a game.

      1. He retired Joey Votto and Jay Bruce (and the Reds' pitcher), too. I don't think I could feel good about expecting Burnett or Hughes to do that successfully.

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