Travis Talks Weekly Minnesota Sports Podcast Tonight at 9

Tonight I will be bringing you a very special edition of the Travis Talks Weekly Minnesota Sports Podcast at 9:00 pm. It will be a jampacked show tonight as I will have another minor leauger that I think you all will enjoy in Matt Fox. Matt Fox has overcome quite a bit to become a very good starting pitcher in the organization. After Matt I will have Jack Steal on and our very differing opinions on the Twins will be on stage. You can find Fanatic Jack's interesting blog at http://fanaticjacktalkstwins.blogspot.com. So join us tonight at 9 pm for another great edition of the Travis Talks Weekly Minnesota Sports Podcast. http://blogtalkradio.com/travistwinstalk

Travis Talks Minnesota Sports podcast Tonight at 9

I am very excited to have another jam packed edition of the Travis Talks Minnesota Sports Podcast tonight at 9pm. I will start out the show with the very well respected Twins blogger Seth Stohs of the ever popular website Seth Speaks that you can find at http://sethspeaks.net. We will be discussing the Minnesota Twins offseason as I continue my look at the American League Central. Following Seth I have a very special guest in Twins minor league pitcher Steve Blevins. He is one of the nicest guys your ever going to meet and I am priviledged to have him on the podcast tonight. So I invite everyone to listen to the Travis Talks Minnesota Sports Podcast tonight at 9pm. http://blogtalkradio.com/travistwinstalk.

Travis Talks Minnesota Sports podcast Tonight at 9

In one of the biggest Travis Talks Minnesota Sports podcast in history I have a huge show planned for tonight at 9 so you don't want to miss out. I will start with Will Mcdonald who does a very good Kansas City Blog and we will talk about everything Royals as I continue my look at the American League Central. Followed by him is a very highly thought of prospect in the Twins minor league system. I will be joined by Starting Pitcher Tyler Robertson and we will talk about how he has gotten to this point and what he looks for going forward. I really invite everyone to tune in because I think its going to be a phenomenal show tonight and I really hope you tune whether you listen every week or if this is your first time visting my blog I really hope you will give me a shot tonight because you won't be disappointed. If you want to listen to the show just go to this site. http://blogtalkradio.com/travistwinstalk

AL Central Preview

With the Twins signing of 2nd baseman Orlando Hudson last night to a 1 year 5 million dollar contract it appears the Twins are pretty much done for the offseason. All that still needs to be done is to finalize the Joe Mauer contract and I am very confident they will get that done before spring training. With that I think it would be fun and interesting to take a look at the AL Central and am doing an unscientific way to evaluate the division. So here is how it is going to work I will rank 1-5 for every position with 1 being the best and 5 being the worst. At the end I will add up all the numbers and the team with the fewest points is the favorite to win the 2010 AL Central. Point totals are pretty simple in that 1= 1 point, 2= 2 points, and so on. So give me some feedback on this to let me know what you think. You can either send me an email at travis_aune@yahoo.com or leave a comment in the comment box. With that lets get started.

• Catcher

1. Joe Mauer(MN)- .365 avg 28 hr 96 rbi's .444/.587/1.031
2. AJ Pierzynski(CH)- .300 avg 13 hr 49 rbi's .331/.425/.756
3. Gerald Laird(Det)- .225 avg 4 hr 33 rbi's .306/.320/.626
4. Jason Kendall(KC)- .241 avg 2 hr 43 rbi's .331/.305/.636
5. Lou Marson(Cle)- .246 avg 0 hr 4 rbi's .347/.361/.708

• 1st Base

1. Miguel Cabrera(Det)- .324 avg 34 hr 103 rbi's .396/.547/.942
2. Justin Morneau(MN)- .274 avg 30 hr 100 rbi's .363/.516/.878
3. Paul Konerko(CH)- .277 avg 28 hr 88 rbi's .353/.489/.842
4. Billy Butler(KC)- .301 avg 21 hr 93 rbi's .362/.492/.853
5. Matt Laporta(Cle)- .254 avg 7 hr 21 rbi's .308/.442/.750

• 2nd Base

1. Gordan Beckham(CH)- .270 avg 14 hr 63 rbi's .347/.460/.808
2. Orlando Hudson(MN)- .283 avg 9 hr 62 rbi's .357/.417/.774
3. Alberto Callaspo(KC)- .300 avg 11hr 73 rbi's .356/.457/.813
4. Luis Valbuena(Cle)- .250 avg 10 hr 31 rbi's .298/.416/.714
5. Scott Sizemore(Det)- .308 avg 8 hr 33 rbi's 10sb .378/.473/.851 in minors

• Shortstop

1. Asdrubal Cabrera(Cle)- .308 avg 6 hr 68 rbi's 17sb .361/.438/.799
2. Alexei Ramirez(CH)- .277 avg 15 hr 68 rbi's 14sb .333/.389/.723
3. J.J. Hardy(MN)- .229 avg 11 hr 47 rbi's .302/.357/.659
4. Yuniesky Betancourt(KC)- .245 avg 6 hr 49 rbi's .274/.351/.625
5. Adam Everett(Det)- .238 avg 3 hr 44 rbi's .288/.325/.613

• 3rd Base

1. Brandon Inge(Det)- .230 avg 27 hr 84 rbi's .314/.406/.720
2. Mark Teahen(CH)- .271 avg 12 hr 50 rbi's .325/.408/.734
3. Alex Gorden(KC)- .232 avg 6 hr 22 rbi's .324/.378/.703
4. Jhonny Peralta(Cle)- .254 avg 11 hr 83 rbi's .316/.375/.690
5. Nick Punto(MN)- .228 avg 1 hr 38 rbi's 16sb .337/.284/.621

• Left Field

1. Carlos Quentin(CH)- .236 avg 21 hr 56 rbi's .323/.456/.779
2. Carlos Guillen(Det)- .242 avg 11 hr 41 rbi's .339/.419/.757
3. Delmon Young(MN)- .284 avg 12 hr 60 rbi's .308/.425/.733
4. Scott Podsednik(KC)- .304 avg 7 hr 48 rbi's 30 sb .353/.412/.764
5. Michael Brantley(Cle)- .313 avg 0 hr 11 rbi's .313/.358/.707

• Center Field

1. Grady Sizemore(Cle)- .248 avg 18 hr 64 rbi's 13sb .343/.445/.788
2. Denard Span(MN)- .311 avg 8 hr 68 rbi's 23sb .392/.415/.807
3. Juan Pierre(CH)- .308 avg 0 hr 31 rbi's 30sb .365/.392/.757
4. Rick Ankiel(KC)- .231 avg 11 hr 38 rbi's .285/.387/.672
5. Austin Jackson(Det)- .300 avg 4 hr 65 rbi's 24sb .354/.405/.759 in minors

• Right Field

1. Michael Cuddyer(MN)- .276 avg 32 hr 94 rbi's .342/.520/.862
2. Shin-Soo Choo(Cle)- .300 avg 20 hr 86 rbi's 21sb .394/.489/.883
3. Alex Rios(CH)- .247 avg 17 hr 71 rbi's 24sb .296/.395/.691
4. Magglio Ordonez(Det)- .310 avg 9 hr 50 rbi's .376/.428/.804
5. David Dejesus(KC)- .281 avg 13 hr 71 rbi's .347/.434/.781

• DH

1. Jason Kubel(MN)- .300 avg 28 hr 103 rbi's .369/.539/.907
2. Travis Hafner(Cle)- .272 avg 16 hr 49 rbi's .355/.470/.826
3. Jose Guillen(KC)- .242 avg 9 hr 40 rbi's .314/.367/.681
4. Clete Thomas(Det)- .240 avg 7 hr 39 rbi's .324/.385/.709
5. Andruw Jones(Chi)- .214 avg 17 hr 43 rbi's .323/.459/.782

• Bench

1. Chicago White Sox
2. Minnesota Twins
3. Detroit Tigers
4. Cleveland Indians
5. Kansas City Royals

• #1 starter

1. Zach Grienke(KC)- 16-8 2.16 era 229.1 inn 242 k's 1.07 whip
2. Justin Verlander(Det)- 19-9 3.45 era 240 inn 269 k's 1.18 whip
3. Jake Peavy(Chi)- 9-6 3.45 era 101.2 inn 110 k's 1.12 whip
4. Scott Baker(MN)- 15-9 4.37 era 200 inn 162 k's 1.19 whip
5. Jake Westbrook(Cle)- 1-2 3.12 era 34.2 inn 19 k's 1.15 whip in 2008

• #2 starter

1. Mark Buehrle(Chi)- 13-10 3.84 era 213.1 inn 105 k's 1.25 whip
2. Rick Porcello(Det)- 14-9 3.96 era 170.2 inn 89 k's 1.34 whip
3. Carl Pavano(MN)- 14-12 5.10 era 199.1 inn 147 k's 1.37 whip
4. Gil Meche(KC)- 6-10 5.09 era 129 inn 95 k's 1.57 whip
5. Fausto Carmona(Cle)- 5-12 6.32 era 125.1 inn 79 k's 1.76 whip

• #3 starter

1. Gavin Floyd(Chi)- 11-11 4.06 era 193 inn 163 k's 1.23 whip
2. Kevin Slowey(MN)- 10-3 4.86 era 90.2 inn 75 k's 1.41 whip
3. Brian Bannister(KC)- 7-12 4.73 era 154 inn 98 k's 1.37 whip
4. Armando Galarraga(Det)- 6-10 5.64 era 143.2 inn 95 k's 1.57 whip
5. Justin Masterson(Cle)- 4-10 4.52 era 129.1 119 k's 1.45 whip

• #4 starter

1. John Danks(Chi)- 13-11 3.77 era 200.1 inn 149 k's 1.28 whip
2. Nick Blackburn(MN)- 11-11 4.03 era 205.2 inn 98 k's 1.37 whip
3. Max Scherzer(Det)- 9-11 4.12 era 170.1 inn 174 k's 1.34 whip
4. Aaron Laffey(Cle)- 7-9 4.44 era 121.2 inn 59 k's 1.62 whip
5. Kyle Davies(KC)- 8-9 5.27 era 123 inn 86 k's 1.53 whip

• #5 starter

1. Francisco Liriano(MN)- 5-13 5.80 era 136.2 inn 122 k's 1.55 whip
2. Jeremy Bonderman(Det)- 0-1 8.71 era 10.1 inn 5 k's 2.32 whip
3. Freddy Garcia(Chi)- 3-4 4.34 era 56 inn 37 k's 1.21 whip
4. Luke Hochevar(KC)- 7-13 6.55 era 143 inn 106 k's 1.49 whip
5. Jeremy Sowers(Cle)- 6-11 5.25 era 123.1 inn 51 k's 1.51 whip

• Closer

1. Joe Nathan(MN)- 2-2 2.10 era 47 saves 68.2 inn 89 k's 0.93 whip
2. Joakim Soria(KC)- 3-2 2.21 era 30 saves 53 inn 69 k's 1.13 whip
3. Jose Valverde(Det)- 4-2 2.33 era 25 saves 54 inn 56 k's 1.13 whip
4. Bobby Jenks(CH)- 3-4 3.71 era 29 saves 53.1 inn 49 k's 1.28 whip
5. Kerry Wood(Cle)- 3-3 4.25 era 20 saves 55 inn 63 k's 1.38 whip

• Bullpen

1. Minnesota
2. Chicago
3. Detroit
4. Kansas City
5. Cleveland

• Manager

1. Minnesota
2. Detroit
3. Chicago
4. Kansas City
5. Cleveland

• Final Totals:
• Minnesota 37 points
• Chicago 41 points
• Detroit 54 points
• Kansas City 66 points
• Cleveland 72 points

• After doing this unscientific experiment based totally on my opinion things turned out how I felt they would going in. The Twins and White Sox are going to battle all year long for the division title in my opinion. The Twins have a superior offense, while the White Sox have a better starting rotation. I have Detroit a step below with all the inexperience that they will send out there on a daily basis. I have Kansas City and Cleveland battling to stay out of the cellar this year so it should be exciting. Did I mention lately it is 15 days until pitchers and catcher report to spring training. I would like to get some feedback on this experiment so let me know what you think.

Travis Talks Minnesota Sports Podcast

I want to thank Larry from http://southsidesox.com for a very interesting interview talking about the White Sox and how much of a threat they will be in 2010. Then I had Nick Nelson on and we had a good conversation about the Twins and what is going on with them. I was pretty happy with the 48 live listeners that I had. I appreciate everyone for listening to the show as I felt it was a very fun show. If anyone missed the show you can download the show by going here. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/travistwinstalk/2010/02/02/travis-talks-weekly-minnesota-sports-podcast

Travis Talks Minnesota Sports podcast Tonight at 9

Tonight, at 9pm I will be bringing you another action packed edition of the Travis Talks Weekly Minnesota Sports Podcast. I have a couple of very interesting guests on the show. First, I will have Larry from http://southsidesox.com/ as he will continue my look at the American League Central with his take on his Chicago White Sox. Then I will have Nick Nelson of the world renown http://nickstwinsblog.com. We will be discussing Baseball and more Baseball. So tune in tonight at 9 for the Travis Talks Minnesota Sports Podcast as I will have an action packed show and you dont want to miss. http://blogtalkradio.com/travistwinstalk