Ken Rosenthal's latest Inside Dish shows some love for our man Mack:
Pirates IF/OF Rob Mackowiak, a former 53rd-round draft pick, began the week with 14 home runs in 309 at-bats. Mackowiak held his own batting third after 1B/OF Daryle Ward was injured, and few players can match his combination of skills. Not only is Mackowiak a left-handed hitter with power, but he also is an above-average runner with a right fielder's arm.
Charlie is blogging about Doug Manishevitz, a guy Rosenthal describes as a good fit with the Red Sox. Looks to me like the Twins want to move salary and open up some lines of playing time for other guys. Plus Doug has been underachieving. He has had tendon damage in his left wrist and he just came off a DL stint to get him healthy. He could be primed for a short burst of quality play for someone - it looks like a good buying opportunity if you believe in buying low and selling high. Necessity never made a good bargain and the Twins have some necessity to unload Mientkiewicz.
Like Charlie, I'm not sure Mientkiewicz is a great fit with the Pirates. Yes, he's left-handed and he fields very well and so he'd fit with the plan of adding guys that fit PNC and fit a rebuilding around starting pitching. On the other hand, he just signed for two years and he's owed $3.75M for 2005. I don't know how much DL will have to spend next year but we can only assume it's about the same amount as he had to spend this year. So it seems like a lot for the Pirates to throw after a first baseman with little power and a recent injury history that reminds me of Pat Meares. If I was Dave Littlefield, I'm not sure I'd want to come home from the mall with such a huge purchase after giving so many lectures on the limitations of the family's monthly budget. Can you see it? "Hi, honey, I'm home. Guess what . . . I got a great deal on an oriental rug that is going to be perfect in the living room . . . can you believe it was 50% off just because of this teeny-tiny tear down the middle? I'm sure your mom can sew it up and make it good as new and it only cost three thousand dollars."
Doug could be going somewhere else as part of a series of trades or a multi-team trade. The Twins want to lose him. GMs are bargain-hunters so he's probably getting a lot of interest around the league. The Pirates have shown interest in the past, but I do believe DL was asking about him before the Twins signed him to that big deal this past February. These days, other teams can better afford him.
...the good people at Bat-Girl are already mourning Doug's loss. Apparently, many fans in Minnesota love their Doug and don't want to see him go.
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