Quick Column: Twins Trade For Matt Capps

A Quick Column that truly exemplifies the word quick.

The Twins traded a highly touted catching prospect Wilson Ramos and another minor league pitcher Joe Testa. In return they received Washington Nationals closer, Matt Capps.

Now last night and this morning Twins fans were griping about how they felt that they gave up too much and it was like the Jeff Bagwell-Larry Anderson trade by the Boston Red Sox and the Houston Astros in the early 90's.

I just find it funny that if the Twins didn't make a move, and I will point out, just like every other year so many Twins fans would be griping about that too. Why didn't we trade player A for player B or were there talks to give up player A and B for player C?

The Twins finally made a move and we complain about it. Do I think the Nationals got a good deal? Sure, I think we gave up a nice prospect for a mid-level closer. But you have to give up something to get something and I think alot of that opinion stems from midwestern values. We're conservative out here. If we don't think something is a sure fire steal or a trade in the Twins favor we don't do it. We might have pulled the trigger if it was Bryce Harper and Matt Capps for Wilson Ramos and Joe Testa. Ha! If you don't know, Bryce Harper was the #1 pick in this year's Major League Baseball draft and there was no chance on that happening.

It is good to have an opinion about your favorite nine and management but there comes a time where you also have to understand you don't own the team, nor manage it.

I think the Twins gave up a notch or two higher than they could have but I think they still got a solid piece in the bullpen. Move Capps to closer, leave Guerrier to set-up in the 8th, Rauch can throw in the 7th and your starter and the other four arms in the bullpen can come in and work the rest of the game, assuming your starter can only go 4,5,6 innings.

I just thought it was funny to hear fans say the Twins got ripped off. But they would have been ripped off at their team if they didn't make a trade. There was no way they would have gotten Lee, Haren or Oswalt. That just traces back to conservative midwestern trade values.

The Twins made a move, though I don't think they were overwhelmed with what they got, they got a good arm and I like it.

Wait and see how August and September play out. There's plenty of baseball left.

Phil Mackey's opinion of the trade from ESPN1500.com

Aaron Gleeman also had a more un-favorable opinion of the trade but I can't find the article.

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

I do believe I forgot to mention that I finished Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen.

It was a very interesting book about a white guy dubbed "Caballo Blanco", the white horse, who supposedly came from the US and started running around the Copper Canyon of Mexico with the native people there, Tarahumara Indians. This was the character that kept you interested in the book, wondering how he got this access to an unknown group of Indians in Mexico who were able to run for hours and days on end.

The plot shifts to the US and race directors for US ultramarathons and that brings in numerous more characters where they get Tarahumara Indians to come to the US and race the Leadville Ultramarathon.

Ultimately, this "Caballo Blanco" wants the best US ultramarathoners to go to the Copper Canyon and race the best of the Tarahumara tribe. By the end of the book that happens, Caballo Blanco gets his wish and in the final chapter you find out who this guy actually is; after forgetting about his character of who he really is in the previous few hundred pages.

It was a good story about distance running, racing and the human body, the science of nutrition, the mental capacity to keep going and little bits of scientific knowledge along the way.

Run for the Roses

I ran the Run for the Roses again this year. It was the last weekend in June, just before the Red, White and Boom.

Last year I did okay in the 5k but this year I ran the 10k to get some miles in before the half marathon.

Surprisingly, I got 2nd overall! There wasn't a huge bit of competition other than the young guy who finished first but I kept chipping away the whole race. I was in 10th or so after about a quarter mile, and by mile 1 I was in third. It took me a couple miles to get the older guy in front of me but I got him and didn't look back, though I was in second by like five minutes. Yikes, too bad I wasn't closer.

Anyway, I was 2nd in 39:48, 6:25 per mile.

Here is the link for the results. Run for the Roses 2010 10k Results.

Run For The Roses 10K Run
Roseville, Minnesota June 26, 2010

Place	Div/Tot	No.	Name	Age	Gen	City	State	Time	Pace
1	1/2	920	Steven Dado	17	M	Stillwater	MN	34:09	5:30
2	1/6	1834	Joel Dischinger	27	M	Roseville	MN	39:48	6:25
3	1/14	1000	Brett Churel	32	M	Roseville	MN	40:56	6:36
4	1/6	906	Darby Baranick	16	F	Woodbury	MN	41:05	6:37
5	1/13	1805	Edward Hudella	44	M	North Branch	MN	41:28	6:41
6	1/16	970	Katie Salvatore	22	F	Shoreview	MN	41:30	6:41
7	2/13	1824	Lawrence Callanan	40	M	St Paul	MN	41:41	6:43
8	1/20	922	James Doelle	55	M	Roseville	MN	42:58	6:55
9	3/13	995	Richard Ziegler	42	M			43:25	7:00
10	2/14	902	John Anderson	32	M	St Paul	MN	43:28	7:00
11	2/20	960	David Peterson	54	M	Shoreview	MN	43:28	7:00
12	2/6	968	Bill Rosenthal	29	M	Roseville	MN	43:33	7:01
13	2/16	901	Johanna Anderson	29	F	St Paul	MN	43:36	7:01
14	2/6	1818	Sophia Ristau	17	F	St Paul	MN	43:47	7:03
15	3/14	981	Christopher Vitalis	38	M	Hugo	MN	44:02	7:06

And here are a few photos from the run.

Red, White and Boom!

My first half marathon at the Red, White and Boom Twin Cities Half Marathon was overall a good challenge, a fun race and a good experience.

I ran 1:37:18, 7:25 per mile. I was 103 out of 2376 as this was the first running event for Twin Cities in Motion. (TC Marathon parent.) I was 86 of 1049 among males and 19 of 158 for males 25-29 years.

I was doing pretty well through 7 complete miles and okay through 8 miles. I salvaged miles 9 and 10 doing a 7:05 and 7:19, but then the wheels came off in miles 11,12,13. I ran 7:53, 8:35 and 8:34 for the final three miles. It was bad.

Weather was also an interesting factor. When Katy and I got there it was warm, humid and cloudy with a chance of rain after 8am. Well, that chance grew and between miles 3 and 4 it started raining and then it poured until about mile 7.5 before slowing down for a few miles and then picking back up for a couple of miles. The rain was so hard many steps were completely underwater and that made my socks and shoes giving me bruised toes and blisters because of all of the slipping and sliding my feet were doing in the shoes.

I will do another, hopefully with a training partner and a race partner and more of a training plan.

Here are the results from the mtecresults.com.

Location	Race Time	Time of Day	Overall Place	Division Place	Sex Place
Time	1:37:18	8:07:01	103/2376	19/158	86/1049
10 Mile	1:11:20	7:41:03	67/2355	11/158	60/1042
GunStart	00:00	6:29:39
ChipStart	0:06	6:29:44	76/2376	11/158	67/1049

Before the race, about 78 degrees with above 65% humidity, if memory serves me correct.













This is on St. Anthony Main, one-tenth of a mile into the race. I was doing okay at that point.













This is back on St. Anthony Main, going the opposite direction towards the finish.







































I ditched my shirt with Nick and Becca at mile 7.5 or so because it was so heavy. My shorts are still quite wet too even though it wasn't raining at the finish.













At the finish just across the street from the restaurants and facing the Mississippi River.













We walked to the Stone Arch Bridge after because it was trying to get sunny and I could walk just a little bit. I though we could get some good pictures but it stayed cloudy.

Upcoming Races:
August 1 Sunday Twins Territory 4K in Minneapolis. It starts downtown, runs by the Guthrie Theater, the Mill City Museum and finishes in front of Target Field.

October 3 Sunday Twin Cities 10 Mile (Hopefully, it's a lottery so I just have to hope I get in.)

Red, White and Boom!

Up, heading to the Red, White and Boom! Half Marathon in a few minutes.

Forecast: 78 degrees, feels like 81 degrees, humidity 74%, dew point 69 degrees
Will I be running or swimming it? I'm not sure at this point.