Let's start this Reading Room with a riddle: If a tree fell in a Minnesota forest and Ozzie Guillen saw it, would he start advocating for mass deforestation?
Here, he breaks down why the Twins are successful:
"One thing about the Twins," Guillen said. "You only see a guy with 20 home runs and 80 RBIs, but one thing they do is put the ball in play. That helps. They play the right position and go first to third, they hit behind the runner and do a lot of good things.
Fun facts:
Can you guess the three most contactingest teams in the American League, in terms of fewest strikeouts? I'll list them in reverse order (rank in terms of runs scored).
3. Minnesota Twins (5th)
2. Chicago White Sox (6th)
1. Kansas City Royals (10th)
Another fun fact -- the Twins are going to win more games this year despite being far, far, FAR worse on the basepaths.
According to Bill James Online's "Baserunning Gain" stat, last year the Twins finished +42. Combine it with their fine steal efficiency (+21), and they were a league-best +63.
This year, they're -22 on the basepaths. They're 64 bases worse. They're only +5 in steals, putting them at -17 overall. All of those numbers are worse than the Sox' (-11 and -2, respectively). Jason Kubel is particularly terrible, and since Denard Span decided to get picked off a ton this year, there's nobody to make up for it.
No, the Twins' offense works because they hit a lot, they hit for good power, and they walk a lot, meaning that if and when they go on kamikaze missions on the basepaths, another replacement will reach soon enough.
Oddly enough, the way Guillen's Sox run the bases this year, they're a very good match for the Twins in that respect. They just are more aggressive about it, and they don't have a surplus of baserunners to make up for the casualties.
Guillen's talent misevaluation of the Twins reminds me of something I read by Twins blogger Aaron Gleeman last week:
@brandonwarne52: Is Cuddyer overrated?
Definitely. Cuddyer makes $10 million per season and some people act as if he's in the running for team MVP, yet he's hitting .275/.340/.424 this year and has a career line of .270/.343/.452. His defense is overrated when people focus on his good arm instead of his poor range and his offense is overrated when people focus on his nice-looking RBI totals rather than his mediocre overall production. Cuddyer is a perfectly solid player who's paid like and treated as a star.
This is the same Cuddyer whom Guillen referred to last month as "the most underrated player in the game."
There are a lot of reasons to like what the Twins do. Guillen -- and Hawk Harrelson, among others -- have a nasty habit of focusing on the wrong ones. Only this time, it's different. In the past, he's griped about the Sox' strikeout-prone ways, but that didn't stop him from trying to maximize what was clearly a strength. When you actually use this mindset to form a team, you end up picking Mark Kotsay over Jim Thome.
Based on Kenny Williams' interest in Adam Dunn and Lance Berkman before forking over cash for Manny Ramirez, I'm guessing he's not going to let Guillen do it again.
*Speaking of Thome, Paul Konerko knew he was going to perform. Sure, Kenny Williams and Ozzie Guillen ask for Konerko's input during the season, but why not when it would've helped?
*And Misc. Baseball dug up some stories on Thome's rise through the minor leagues, including this item I keep forgetting about:
As his body filled out, Thome was switched from shortstop to thirdbase at Class A Kinston. He has worked hard at that part of his game,too, but may never develop into a slick fielder.
O’Dowd worries that Thome may eventually fill out physically at, say,6-5 and 240 pounds, like his brother Chuck. If so, he would have to bemoved to another position, possibly first base or designated hitter.
*And back to Guillen, he said he's not going to play all the kids. Which is fine, as long as Brent Morel gets a long look. At this point, I'd rather protect Tyler Flowers and Dayan Viciedo from upsetting Guillen with their swings and misses.
*A.J. Pierzynski, who doesn't swing and miss, surpassed 1,000 innings for the ninth straight season. So you could probably squeeze in a Flowers start without hurting Pierzynski's feelings. Hell, I'd think he's already respected enough for breaking that milestone while Ramon Castro's .300/.349/.530 line sat on the bench. Pierzynski's been great as of late, but his contributions were negligible for a majority of the season.
*Bobby Jenks and Freddy Garcia may have thrown their last pitches in a White Sox uniform.
*Brent Lillibridge turned his infatuation with "Halo" into free stuff from Microsoft.
