I Hear Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

As I enter the 2002 Twins’ losses, I find myself thankful that so many musicians have faced so much hardship in their relationships so that I can continue the naming scheme for these columns. I have once again collected my baseball reference books and opened some crucial web links, so I’m ready to roll. Before I begin, I discovered something disturbing while looking at the 2002 Twins’ stats: Tony Fiore had the 5th highest VORP among their pitchers. That does not account for leverage, so he was almost certainly not one of their five best pitchers, but we’re talking about a team that won its division siphoning lots of innings to a pitcher who relies almost exclusively on a palm ball.

2002

Buck Buchanan (3-year Minnesota VORP avg 2.6, Post-Minnesota VORP avg 5.3): Buck was a mule of a player, and I’m not quite sure how he didn’t hit for more power. It would seem that if a man of his size even made contact, it would fly a mile. Maybe he would have had more staying power if he was cut from the Jeromy Burnitz/Richie Sexson all-or-nothing mold, as his game seemed to lack anything distinctive. Blame my unhealthy obsession with Rob Deer if you like, but I think we need more of these players.

Jack Cressand (5.1, 8.5): Cressand had the same predicament in both Minnesota and Cleveland: he had a very solid year for a middle reliever followed by a very disappointing year. Replaceable as players of his ilk are, he did not receive a third chance, and he is probably now out of the Majors for good.

Mike Jackson (16.5, 5.6): The thermometer had popped out of Mike Jackson by the time he came to Minnesota, but the intimidation factor of his low-billed cap was good for a 3.27 ERA in 55 very low leverage IP. He did not find work in 2003, but resurfaced for the Pale Hoes in 2004, where a weaker defense exposed his inability to miss bats. He’s a good example of cheap and readily available bullpen help that the Twins utilized quite well in the early aughts before turning it over to their farmhands.

Matt Kinney (4.9, -1.6): My only lasting impression of Matt Kinney is that he was dubbed a future star by a fantasy baseball magazine I read before my 2002 draft. I almost drafted him, but a no. 5 starter on any team is a questionable pick. I let him slide, and he has yet to check in below 4.50 for a full season’s ERA. After failing miserably in a season long audition for Milwaukee, he will probably struggle to ever get regular playing time again.

David Ortiz (20.4, 68.6): Here’s the big one. Even though the Twins have come out ahead on a vast majority of the players so far, the disparity on Ortiz might outweigh all of their gains. What makes Ortiz’s departure different from others? In a way, he’s similar to Koskie in that he was let go after struggling to stay healthy. In another way, he is similar to Bobby Kielty who steadily improved, but never broke out. In still another way, he is like Todd Walker (not part of this series due to his timing), who just never quite fit the organizational mentality of speed, defense and fundamentals. Unlike the others, Ortiz had already demonstrated that he had power and plate discipline, and it was probably just a matter of time until he broke out. It’s easy to criticize the move now, but I did not understand it at the time, even with Mientkiewicz coming off of back to back seasons with an OBP over .365. If nothing else, Ortiz could form a devastating DH platoon with Fatthew Lecroy that could double as some C/1B depth. For a team lacking power, that seems like a pretty solid prescription. Even now, I find myself pondering what this year’s lineup would look like with Ortiz at least a couple times each week.

Not Listed: Javier Valentin had nearly a full season’s worth of PAs with the Twins, but only four during the period of investigation. Casey Blake never had more than 25 PAs in one season with Minnesota.