Still ignoring the Lynx, who got their brains beat in at Target by Connecticut Sunday night and now sit in eighth place with about a dozen games to go, but they won last year, so we're not gonna talk about them, no sirree. ...
#-1: Twins (Last Week: -1). This really wasn't a good screening week for any local teams. I initially had the Loons in first. But then I had to admit my myself that, at least for this year, neither club was going anywhere, so I went to the records and, yes, the Twinks finished the week 5-2, so they are top this time around. But frankly, they needed to run the table in this long homestand, and they didn't, going only 9-2. They almost suffered a third loss yesterday/Sunday against the Bay Rays of Tampa, pissing away a bottom-of-the-Ninth lead by surrendering the tying Run with 2 Out, but Brian Dozier, the first player who probably should be traded by this club, ended the game in the 10th with a Grand Slam. (That homer capped off a strange game where there were not one but two bench-clearing sort-of brawls.)
So going into the All-Star Break (and congratulations again go out to Pitcher Jose Berrios, although I am kind of shocked no one announced they pulled up lame and thus gave a spot to Eddie Rosario), the Twinks are second in the American League Central Division, 44-50 and 7 1/2 games behind first-place Cleveland. So they're sellers, right? Who could or should go? Dozier's a goner. Fernando Rodney has been heart attack-inducing, but someone might need a new closer or set-up man. Hell, the bullpen could be sold off for parts -- Zach Duke, Addison Reed, Trevor Hildenberger. But how about -- and bear with me now -- Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton? Sano is still down on the farm in Ft. Myers, while Buxton is still hurt and isn't hitting at the plate when he was OK. Would it be too far-fetched to pull the plug on these two once-can't-miss prospects and see what you can get from a team that still sees potential in them? Maybe they can still be good players, but they probably won't be the long-term superstars they were slated to be when the Twins drafted them. If that's the case, and with this organization suffering a serious set-back this year, why not stock up for the future? Burn it down, I say, and see if you can build a team around Berrios, Rosario and, uh, Jake Cave.
Any attempt to hunt down Cleveland in the second half of the season begins with the handicap of them on the road for three series. (It seems as though their season has consisted either of long homestands or long roadtrips.) First up is the worst of the three: Kansas City.
#-2: United FC (Last Week: -2). Well, now that I have seen it, I am absolutely shocked, shocked I tell you, that Adrian Heath blew a gasket after the Loons survived Real Salt Lake Saturday, 3-2. They were up 3-0 in that match via Goals from Ibson, Darwin Quintero, Jr. (another beautiful chip -- man, players should chip more often) and the courageous Miguel Ibarra, all in the Second Half. But the defense, once again, started to take on serious water, giving up a pair of tallies eight minutes apart by RSL sub Joao Plata.
That sent the Head Coach into blowing a gasket. As we serenaded the side with "Wonderwall," Heath (and I wish I could embed the interview) lashed out at his players during his post-match, on-pitch interview with Jamie Watson, saying how ridiculous it was that they had to hang on for dear life to take away all three points and then, after curtly thanking Watson, walking away. And he did not let up for his post-game press conference.
I think that him getting pissed off is totally in line, even if his squad won. After blowing leads vs. Colorado and Kansas City and getting hounded off the pitch by clubs below them in the West like San Jose and Seattle, it's about time Heath did. And, to highlight one of my issues, that's one problem. Why didn't he show the fans and supporters how upset he is before? For example, why didn't he lose his head Wednesday night in that 2-1 loss in that Friendly/Exhibition against Costa Rican club Saprissa? (They played up here because MNUFC's Francisco Calvo, who is our team's lone All-Star, BTW, played for Saprissa.) I know that it didn't count. But in the same way you could say United didn't try, neither did Saprissa, and in a vacuum between similarly unmotivated teams, I expected these guys to win out. (Oh, and a rule for future WMNSS's: I don't take into account exhibitions if the home team wins, but I do if they lose. It's a pessimistic way of looking at things, but this is my survey.) And yet they lost, and once again they lost late in the game on a Goal by Saprissa's Carlos Villegas (a sub) in the 85th. There have been many games after which Heath should have blown his top; I blew mine after that game.
And this leads to the other issue I have with Heath. It has been demonstrably proven that after defeats and sort-of tongue-lashings by him, he trots out the same starting lineup that presumably made all those mistakes he criticized them for. There is no accountability; otherwise, starters would get benched. Look, Heath can get mad all he wants. But if he's going to be this upset, there goddamn better be some drastic changes for this week's home matches versus New England (Wednesday) and high-spending expansion club LAFC (Sunday). If he doesn't, he's all talk and no action.
#-3: Timberwolves (Re-Entry!). They are here, and at the bottom, because this week the organization tendered a four-year, $100 million extension to Jimmy Butler, and Butler and his team threw it right back in their faces. He has one year left on his current contract, and he, like virtually every other player in the National Basketball Association, wants to be clear of a contract after next season in order to cash in on what everybody says will be a massive salary cap rise, leading to a free agency free-for-all, for the 2019 offseason. How everybody just knows there will be many millions more to spend on the salary cap, I have no clue.
But this brings me to something I don't think I've talked much of: The ongoing, simmering lack of chemistry between Butler and the Two Woofie Pups, Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. Simply put, they don't get along. And whether it's a generational thing or something else, it cropped up during the season and hasn't really gotten better over the summer. As Towns is in line for a max contract (despite his up-and-down year), there might be enough pie to go around to satisfy the core from this group. Already Jamal Crawford left and Nemanja Bjelica was let go -- not heart-breaking losses, but they contributed to a group that finally reached the playoffs.
So beyond trying to reconstruct a bench on a meager budget, Tom Thibodeau and the front office braintrust will now try and keep their big stars happy even though there is no sign that they can mesh. So if that's the case, what should they prioritize -- the two young stars that have yet shown they can take the next step? Or the bona fide superstar who has had injury troubles and may yet want to move on to a different team and play with Kyrie Irving?
This is not a good problem a squad that is supposed to be headed for bigger and brighter things should have. The worst-case scenario? The best players forces a trade and they're left with a lazy stooge with no D and a millennial who doesn't know how to lead. Good God, this team is cursed.
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