In fun: Team Smith uses the lab to clone Walter Johnson!

“His personality would fit in perfect,” Pavano said. “I think his character is great. He’d really enjoy some guys on this team. He’s been in the Central Division, and I think that’s an advantage. These guys know what he brings to the table. They’d all be excited, especially the hitters. They know how tough he is.”

Doesn’t sound like a character issue, to me.

Twink, I hear ya. Think we could trade for Lee and hope they get confused and send Hernandez instead?

This is what happens when you post at 1:00 am. I forgot to post a comment regarding the stats I used. (you know, in case the 2000 words in the post weren’t enough for you to read). Anyway, here’s my thinking regarding the stats I pulled.

IP=Innings Pitched (shows me durability and that you tend to go deep in to games. Pitchers who tend to get knocked out in the 3rd inning don’t end up with high IP numbers)

ERA=Earned Run Average (not the best stat to look at but certainly more legitimate for starting pitchers than relievers. It can be significantly influenced, however, by the quality of the defense behind the pitcher)

WHIP=Walks+Hits per Inning pitched (the best way to not give up runs is to not let hitters get on base. If you can keep this number close to 1.00 per inning, you’re doing a good job)

K/9=Strikeouts per 9 innings pitched (a bit redundant after using Ks in the first place, but it does level things out to account for some pitchers having more starts at this point in the season than others)

K/BB=Strikeouts to Walks ratio (Ks are great, but if you’re walking guys as much as you’re sitting them down, you’re going to drive Andy, Gardy… and me… absolutely nuts)

WAR=Wins Above Replacement player (yes, this is one of those new-fangled stats that us normal people either can’t get our brains around or simply don’t care to. You can find an explanation here, or you can just take my word that the higher number is better because it represents how many more wins your team has won by having you pitch for them instead of some average starting pitcher… quite appropriate, to me, given that our new ace would be replacing one average pitcher or another in the current Twins rotation)