If there is one thing that’s nice about Twins GM Bill Smith, its that he doesn’t share the same worldview as Ron Gardenhire. Terry Ryan definitely did. Ryan often stood pat at the deadline, thinking that Gardy had a good handle on things, in the short term and that a disruption of the pipeline from the minors would be detrimental to the Twins long term. Then the bullpen would fall apart and the Twins would either miss the playoffs or lose in the first round because they couldn’t score any runs.

Now the new GM Smith has proven that, if he doesn’t necessarily agree with Gardy’s philosophies on baseball, he can mitigate some of Gardenhire’s problem areas so it’s not such a disaster. Let’s take a look at three examples from the past year, and what ones might come into play at the deadline this year.

1) Gardenhire often favors defense to the detriment of offense: One of the first things that Smith did when he took over was acquire Delmon Young. Later, Carlos Gomez and his atrocious plate approach was brought in from New York in the Johan Santana trade. Gomez was a speedy, top flight defender, whereas Young was to be one of the top right handed hitters in a lefty heavy lineup. Well, Denard Span emerged as a good center field defender, which sort of ended the need for Gomez’s glove… until Gardy started putting Span in left field and benching Young. Young’s numbers faltered, but he showed he was at his best when he got extended playing time. Over the offseason, Gomez was traded to the Brewers for JJ Hardy, and Young HAS to play every day. On a team with Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, he is leading the squad in batting average and RBI.

Will this factor into the deadline: Probably not

Gardenhire overmanages his bullpen: Matt Guerrier continuously leads the AL in appearances, and most other pitchers come in regularly for an inning or less. All that warming up and entering games drains a player, and that was the case last year (and every year, but Smith was in charge last year), so to stave off the bullpen fatigue, he added Jon Rauch and Ron Mahay, who if nothing else prevented Matt Guerrier’s arm from falling off.

Will this factor into the deadline: It probably will every year, though the Twins haven’t gone to the minors much for pitching help. Still, don’t be surprised if some relief help is added in Minnesota.

In Gardy’s world, a middle infielder will ALWAYS bat 2nd: This is problematic, because even if you take away terrible hitting middle infielders, another one will take his place. Last year with Nick Punto batting 2nd all season, Smith grabbed Orlando Cabrera from the A’s, and he was immediately put into the 2 spot. Over the offseason, he signed Orlando Hudson who has hit 2nd most of the year, keeping Punto at the bottom of the lineup where he belongs. This problem is usually solved with an Orlando.

Will this factor into the deadline: It wouldn’t have, until Hudson went on the DL. Now Alexi Casilla has taken his spot on the field and in the lineup. The trade doesn’t need to be for an elite infielder, just a backup with a high OBP. This is why Ty Wigginton keeps coming up in Twins rumors.

Will the Twins make any deals at the deadline this year? Probably, if only to keep Gardenhire from himself.

[UPDATE] Well, well well… The Twins have done exactly what my theorizing would have suggested, adding depth to their bullpen to prevent an implosion at the hands of Gardenhire. Well done, Smith. Well done. No on to the middle infield…

As previously reported right here on 7IS, two Minnesota Twins have gone mustache marvelous this season.  A wise woman wrote that Nick Punto is now at last “the Mario to Carl Pavano’s Luigi.”

I think it was Stephen Hawking who said that where there’s a Mario and a Luigi, there must also be a Yoshi, and that the only way Super Mario Bros. 3 could be improved upon would be if Yoshi also grew a mustache.

Obviously, someone in Minnesota was hanging on Stephen Hawking’s every word, because our sources have informed us that a) the Minnesota Twins have some sort of bear mascot, and that more importantly 2) said bear mascot thing has grown a mustache:

This is bigger news in Minnesota than the Mikko Koivu extension. Still this TC Bear thing has a long way to go to be up there in the mustached mascot elite with Mr. Redlegs.

And hopefully this will inspire Joe Mauer to make our mustache prophesies come to glorious lip fruition.

This was the lineup put out by Gardenhire on Sunday against the Braves. Before we begin, I feel it’s only fair to point out that with injuries to Orlando Hudson and JJ Hardy and his hands are tied with WHO was in his lineup. Add that to the fact that guys like Denard Span and Joe Mauer needed a break, Span hadn’t had an off day all season and Mauer just needed to get out from behind the plate before his knees turned to putty, so I will operate under the premise that this is the set of players he HAD to go with for the game.

Well, let’s start with problem number one. Nick Punto in the lead off spot. The only reason I can think that he led off is because he is short and was playing an infield position. Punto is terrible. Sure, he is well liked in the clubhouse and whatever, but he can’t hit. Never mind the fact that he is wildly overrated as a middle infielder, he is a moron at the plate. Don’t even get me started about his diving at first. The idea with the lead off hitter is that it’s someone who should get on base in front of the other good hitters behind him.

Oh. Right. Trevor Plouffe. Ever since Hudson has gone down, it’s like Gardenhire has had it in his mind that a middle infielder has to bat second. After Hudson went down, it’s been a rotation of the youngster Plouffe who has been demonstrably awful, with an OBP that is somehow lower than his batting average, and Matt Tolbert, who used to have “Zombie” by the Cranberries as his at bat music, and no that is not a joke. Matt Tolbert loves the Cranberries so much, they were his at bat music. Unfortunately, Dolores O’Riorden can hit better than he can.

This is Gardenhire’s worst trait as a manager. He is completely incapable of assembling a batting order that maximizes his offense. It’s gone unnoticed so far this season due to the surplus of talent and good health until this point, but now with some adversity, Gardy has fallen back to his old bad habits and is putting 2 players with combined OBPs 40 points lower than the clean up hitter. No wonder they were almost completely shut down by Kris f’ing Medlen.

I get a lot of criticism for being critical of Gardenhire without bringing anything substantive to the table. This is an easy fix, which makes it all the more frustrating. First, don’t put terrible hitters in front of your best hitters. It’s a good way not to score any runs, because there isn’t anyone on, and you start the game with 2 outs by the time you get to Mauer. So, how about this (and I know it’s a bit of a change from the way he’s done it every single game up until now)… Move Delmon Young, who has been the best right handed hitter in the lineup this season up to the lead off spot instead of burying him in the 7 hole (!), because, believe it or not, he is actually somewhat fleet of foot and so much better than Nick Punto at the plate, its amazing they are even employed in the same profession. Next, move everyone else up a spot to mitigate the risk early in the game. This way, you get Delmon Young and Joe Mauer more at bats in this game. Just imagine how good Young could be if he had Mauer backing him up instead of Brendan Harris. And if you are worried about lumping for crappy hitters in a row, A) you already did that, 8-2, and B) You have Jim Thome, Span and the rookie Danny Valencia to work with from the bench.

Keep in mind this is just a one game solution. Going forward though, Gardy has to figure out that he should put someone who can hit between Span and Mauer. Of course, he hasn’t been able to figure out stuff like this for the past 10 seasons.

All right fine, here is another picture of There’s Something About Mary era Matt Dillon…. or Carl Pavano.

Every Friday, 7IS Contributor Ryan Henning will take a look at what’s happening in the life of a former, possibly forgotten player. You may not think it’s important, but it must be important to someone.

The guy in the picture up there (not the one that looks like Ferguson Jenkins… that’s Ferguson Jenkins. The one that looks like Saddam Hussein) is Ozzie Virgil Jr. This is from a goose hunting trip in Arizona. Allegedly, he didn’t get either of those birds he is holding.

Virgil was a catcher who managed to appear in (and lose) World Series with the Phillies in 1983 and went on to appear in two All-Star games, which is perhaps even more impressive. Of course, back in the 80s, catchers weren’t cut from the same cloth as Joe Mauer and Victor Martinez, so his .241 batting average and 19 homers must have seemed pretty phenomenal. Nowadays, that season would be described as “Widgerlike”

Some fun things about the man, the myth, the legend: Ozzie Virgil.

- Hunts, apparently poorly.

- Is the first player in the league to have a father with an airport named after him. Ozzie Virgil Sr. was the first Dominican player in the league, and the first non white player the Detroit Tigers ever had. A small airport in the DR is now named after him.

- After leaving his playing days behind him, he became a manager, as most players featured here seem to do. But Surprise! He was managing in Surprise, Arizona with the Fightin Falcons. He did such a good job, they disbanded in 2005.

- Apparently, he is a part of an all-star baseball tour or something. It’s for charity, and it has a picture of him today, looking just as “Latin Santa Claus” as he does with his hunting buddy up there. They tour in Canada, according to their schedule. What a worldly guy.

Joe Mauer is now a very wealthy man, in case you hadn’t heard. I’m sure he has plans on things to do with the money, but as a Twins fan and Minnesota native, I think I have license to give him advice on how to spend that money. Here are ten ways that Mauer should throw his money around.

- First things first, he needs to get some mustache grooming tools. Now that he’s making 184 million dollars, he can afford to go Rollie Fingers with that thing.

(the rest after the “more”)

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Every Thursday, 7IS Contributor Ryan Henning will take a look at a rumor burning up the hot stove. You may not think it’s important, but it must be important to someone.

According to scintillating reports out of San Diego, Adrian Gonzalez is willing to take deferred payments with his new contract. If baseball contracts are anything like the lottery, that means that he will end up getting more money, rather than the payer paying more money. At 200 million dollars, I would say he is hitting the lottery. Perhaps he can spend some of that cash on goatee maintenance.

This is the time of year where teams start figuring out what they need in order to be competitive for the season. The Twins might want a closer. The Mariners might need a power hitter. The Orioles may need a different division. Trust me, things will start picking up next week. For now though, we need can try to read between the lines on what Gonzalez’s willingness to defer money might REALLY mean.

- Gonzalez might actually end up staying in San Diego. Pfffft. Just kidding! I’m just kidding.

- If he DOES end up staying in San Diego, he’ll probably sign before Joe Mauer.

- Gonzalez was probably feeling left out of any massive ludicrous trade rumors involving national league first basemen this week.

Every Thursday, 7IS Contributor Ryan Henning will take a look at a rumor burning up the hot stove. You may not think it’s important, but it must be important to someone.

Yesterday, the NHL trade deadline came and went, and saw 35 trades. THIRTY FIVE. In baseball, we sit and talk about the Hot Stove essentially all season, and when the deadline arrives, we see about 8 trades. The NHL is a veritable swap meet, while MLB reports things like the fact that Joe Mauer’s agent, Ron Shapiro, has reported to Twins camp.
Many are saying that the arrival of Shapiro at Twins camp means the Twins are going to get down to the nitty gritty of negotiating a new long term contract for the star catcher. Sure, you could automatically assume that, but here is what I am saying about Shapiro’s arrival in Fort Myers.

- The veteran Shapiro will use his history, negotiating contracts for Cal Ripken with the Orioles, as leverage in pushing Nick Punto at third base.

- Shapiro’s work ethic will set a good example for young outfielders Delmon Young and Denard Span

- Shapiro’s age will mean designated hitter Jim Thome will have a contemporary to talk to in the clubhouse, easing his transition to the Twins.

To my wife’s chagrin, I’ve been known to grow a mustache now and then (a real one, not some idiotic ironic hipster mustache). As you probably know, the most dignified way to grow a mustache is to:

1. Grow a beard
2. Shave off the non-mustache beard bits

It really is that simple. Just ask reigning AL MVP Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins, who is currently in stage one.

Using 7th Inning Stache’s MOOPS (Mustache Oy! Oy! Projection System), Joe Mauer’s upper lip can tease us no longer. After the jump, marvel at how Mauer would look if he shaved his (face) cheeks now:

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