K-Rod should not and will not be AL MVP this year. Nor will he be AL Cy Young Award winner. But he is still an awfully good reliever who is likely to set the all time record for single season saves. And he has done so without a lot of blown saves; even with today’s flub he’s running about 90% successful, and my rule of thumb is anything over 80% is worth having in a closer.

Yes, Nathan and Rivera are having better years by any measures other than saves. And yet, if saves were not important, were not counted, are not considered to be the highest stress situation possible for a pitcher, why is every team in baseball seeking not only a closer specialist, but also a closer specialist in training (usually called the 8th inning guy) in case the closer gets injured? Why are some guys who throw fewer than half the innings of Brian Bannister being paid so very very well? So it seems that baseball accepts and rewards players for their ability to cope with the stress of pitching late innings with the game on the line. And at that, K-Rod has done very very well, with an enormously high percentage of his innings coming in save situations, far higher than any other pitcher listed.

Do I think Nathan or Rivera is having a better season that K-Rod? Almost certainly… except that they aren’t doing it in as tough an environment. K-Rod has pitched 60.3 innings after tonight, with 54 saves and six blown saves. That looks like 100% of his outings came in save situations. So that’s got to be tougher on him. How much tougher? I don’t know. But the Angels have a better record than the Yankees or the Red Sox or the Twins or definitely the Royals, and some of that has to be the closer and the job he has done. I mean, even in the arguable the best relief pitcher year ever, when Gagne won the had zero blown saves and won the CYA, he still pitched in 22 games where there was no save opportunity. So better than one game in four he wasn’t facing the pressure of losing a game his team had won. He did have three losses that year, and two wins.

Again, a terrible idea for KRod to be either MVP or CYA, but he does not deserve being treated the way he has been here for the excellent job he has done. It’s not like he’s Dave Goltz.

In fact, at this point in the season there’s 5 AL closers with a better ERA, better WHIP, less runs allowed, less earned runs allowed, and better ERA+, than Frankie! They are Soria, Nathan, Papelbon, Rivera, and Jenks. I’d be willing to bet all 5 have less blown saves than K-Rod too.

But I would love to see Joe write a regular golf column. Most golf writing nowadays is pablum. There’s nobody remotely close to either Dan Jenkins or Herbert Warren Wind, but Joe might be able to do that.

I believe Baseball prospectus had the Twins somewhere around 78-84 this year.

Seriously though, how many more games would the Twins have won with Pat Neshek in the lineup. 5? 10? The 7th and 8th have been murder for the Twins this second half!

As for the Dome advantage, what about the rumor that the facilities crew strategically blow the air currents in favorable directions? I know, I’m stretching it here.

my first non-Mets player shirt was a Joe Mauer shirt. But I learned about the Twins because I loved and worshipped Bat Girl.

The man can write about anything, and do it exceedingly well.

I’d like to hear one good reason why the Dome — as opposed to any other home park — is such an advantage to the Twins. People always say this; but you never hear any concrete reasons (at least, ones that make sense).”

It’s the depression factor of the Dome and that the Twins are so young. It’s kind of like if you got expelled from Harvard with 1 semester left and were forced to go to Lower New England Community College—you’d be freaked out. Whereas if you’d gone to the community college for your whole education , you wouldn’t even notice how messed up it really is. That’s how these young Twins probably feel when they’re at home. Likewise, when the Yankees come in from Yankee Stadium and play in the Dome, it’s gotta be hard to be motivated and sharp.

All the credit goes to Gardy. The Twins front office has made some great moves over the years, but the Twins are competing right now without Santana or Hunter.