Write On Sports LLC - "MLB's Greatest Singles Hitting Team" by Keith Emmel

MLB's Greatest Singles Hitting Team

2007-07-15 14:08:32 | By: Keith Emmel

The one thing that I find very frustrating and very exillerating when watching the Twins is the constant singles parade. I don't know if there has ever been a group of Twins players who hit more singles than the current Twins. I think this fact has led Gardenhire to adopt a run generation model on offense. Going into Sunday's game the Twins are:

- 10th in Hits
- 6th in Runs
- 22nd in Home Runs
- 25th in Doubles
- 4th in Steals

The Twins are manufacturing runs through stolen bases and singles. It's really all they can do, even with Tori and Justin having really good years. In the last three home games against Oakland, the Twins have had runners in scoring position in 17 of the 24 innings played. That is simply amazing.

However, I'd like to see a little more balance. It would be nice to see one more home run/doubles threat in the lineup to help score some of these runs.

Would the Twins make a move for someone like the A's Dan Johnson - Trade Rumors or are they still interested in a deal for someone like Mike Lowell as reported by La Velle La Velle? How fun would it be to have Griffey Jr. hitting home runs for a few months in the dome?

With Torii having a career ie. contract year his free agent price is effectively going up every week he plays. Now that Ichiro has signed a ridiculous deal, for what could be marketing reasons and not on field performance, Torii and Andruw Jones are the only two big free agent outfielder's left.

In the past the Twins let Kirby and Herbek test free agent waters before signing them back to the team. That could very well be the case for Torii, which could bring Jacque Jones back into the picture. Jacque and Torii were friends in MN and still are friends. Chicago rumors have Jacque day dreaming about coming back to MN to play in a more comfortable environment free of the 24/7 Cubs Nation scrutiny. Could Jacque actually help decide Torii's fate? Would Jacque help tell tale's of the unhappiness that comes with chasing big money? Would Jacque and Torii want to come back to MN and the outfield foundation until the new stadium opens? Or does Terry Ryan want to bring up some new blood from the farm?

Fox Sports senior writer Ken Rosenthal has a new post examining the Twins situationwith Santana. If left open to the market Santana could easily get $15-$20 million/yr. Do the Twins try to move him next season for prospects? The one thing going the Twins way is that Santana wants to stay in MN and is willing to work out a hometown discount, but that may still be $10-$15 million/yr. The other thing to consider is that Santana has a no trade clause running through the end of 2008. If the Twins show him love by not even considering trades would Johan return the favor and play for $5-$10 million/yr. less?

Even with the Torii and Johan situations, we still have Justin, Cuddy and Nathan to think about. Why can't we just have NY and Boston like money?