Twinkie Talk, Meet Pat Neshek

Winston-Salem, NC – "Baseball Wednesdays" return with a team that didn’t make a significant trade yesterday; however, they are considered to be a contender. (I will get to all of the trading deadline deals later on this week.) The Twinkies lone transaction was sending 2B Luis Castillo to the Mets for a couple of minor leaguers. Subsequently, a very frustrated Johan Santana said this about the team. I can just see the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Cubs, Dodgers, and Angels licking their chops. Santana is set to become a free agent after the 2008 season. Maybe the Twins pull off a deal this offseason with another team to acquire major league ready prospects. A deal, such as this potential one, mimics the Pedro Martinez deal prior to the 1998 season. Martinez, 25 at the time, was entering the prime of his career and had one year left on his contract. The Red Sox obtained a steal in Martinez (also key was the Sox's ability to lock up Martinez for the long term), but I cannot see Twins GM Terry Ryan asking for anything less than 2 or 3 type A prospects.

Just wanted to call your attention to Pat Neshek, the primary set-up man in the bullpen for the Twins. Neshek, an All-Star candidate this year, possesses a unique submarine/sidearm delivery. It’s one of the coolest deliveries that I have ever seen. Here is some amateur footage of him warming up in a recent game.

Neshek’s statistics to date:

• 6-1 record
• 50 2/3 IP
• 11 ER
• 60 K's
• 18 BB's
• 24 Hits

Those are some ridiculous numbers. 60 strikeouts in 50 innings! In 52 appearances, he’s given up only 11 earned runs. It takes a special case for a middle reliever to be on your fantasy team, and Neshek is one of those cases.

Aside from his outstanding statistics, Neshek is one of the few (but growing number of) major leaguers who have their own blog. Updated daily, Neshek’s blog gives you the in’s and out’s of life on the road as a professional baseball player. Check out his blog here. If you can’t tell, Neshek is an avid baseball card collector. He has in his possession some notable treasures.

Just wanted to raise the point of the baseball profession. Traveling from city to city is such a grueling process. As fans, we take for granted the traveling and late night arrivals that players go through. A better example of my point was raised in Amy K. Nelson’s recent article on players who are traded at the deadline. If a player is traded, he usually has a day or so to report to his new team. He and his family have to make an instant decision whether to move to their new city or remain behind. Check out the article here. It’s pretty cool that Neshek carves out the time to answer the hundreds of letters that he receives weekly.

Sent Neshek a note (and a baseball card to sign) on B’s Bistro blog. We’ll see if he checks it out.