2011 "My Guys"

It's February and not much is going on.  All the teams I root for are fair-to-middling, winter's icy grip continues it's hold on the upper Midwest (although it's supposed to get to 35 this weekend, holla!) and no holidays or special events loom in the near future, save for bankers and government personnel.  Based on all that, it seems the perfect time to select a new set of My Guys for 2011.

In case this hasn't been explained previously (it's been a long year and I've spewed a ton of drivel, can't remember what all has been covered), a My Guy is a less-heralded player on each of your favorite teams that you enjoy the play of and tag for future success.  Why less-heralded?  Because the point is to pick a guy who has potential, but has not produced to the point where everyone is on the bandwagon.  The best player on a team can't be a My Guy, because he's everybody's guy.  I'm mean I suppose you could walk around talking him up, but then you'd just be one of millions.  The idea is to make a call before success is obvious, once a player has arrived, he's off the My Guy market.

It's also pretty weak to be targeting a top draft pick in basketball or football, that's a pretty stout limb you're going out on.  My rule of thumb is to stay away from any Top 5 picks in basketball and Top 10 picks in football, because odds are those guys will have some decent run if your team has any idea what it's doing.  This rule is of course null and void if popular opinion is decidedly against the player in question, or if you have a really annoying buddy/co-worker who goes on and on about the wrong choice being made.  In other words, you know somebody like me.  Hockey and baseball draft picks are exempt here, as the long lead time makes it much more of a crapshoot.

All of this is not to say that your chosen My Guy needs to achieve All-Star status, or something similar, to validate the pick.  To the contrary, many a great My Guy has simply been a productive and likable player who helped the squad win games.  One of my all-time favorite My Guys was Doug Mientkiewicz, of early-90s Twins fame.  Sure he was never anything great as star players go, but he slapped together a great 3-year run as a .300-hitting, Gold Glove-caliber first baseman on division winning teams.  That's really all we need out of the deal.

In fact once one of your My Guys truly hits the big time, it's time to move on.  Sure you can enjoy the moment, the fact that you liked this guy from the jump and had a correct read on his potential is something to celebrate.  But now that he's been embraced by the masses and you're going to have a lot of company in touting his skills, it's time to find a new project to root for.  The reverse situation also works, in that sometimes we swing and miss on a My Guy, eventually needing to sever ties.  It's my personal opinion that this shouldn't be done too lightly, as the ups and downs are part of the process when following young players.  You can't just turn tail and run because things aren't moving as fast as you'd like.  I took a lot of heat for defending Delmon Young during his first two seasons as a Twin, and look at him now!  It's important to remember than any player truly fitting the definition of a My Guy takes time, so give it the requisite time before switching things up. 

But sometimes it's clear things are going nowhere, and at that point it's acceptable to admit you misjudged things and move on.  If you're 2+ years in and a guy never plays, or stinks up the joint every time he does, then it's probably time to cut bait.  Getting released by the organization is also a pretty solid signal that things aren't going to turn around any time soon.  Case in point about the proper timeline is current Vikings My Guy Phil Loadholt.  As a former lineman myself, the big uglies always have a special place in my heart, and Phil is bigger/uglier than most.  His career started off strong, but last season his performance took a big step backward, much like every other member of the Vikings offense.  Am I discarding my boy Phil in favor of some hotshot #12 draft pick they could make this spring?  Heck no.

(And for the record, I'd be saying the same thing if I'd gone with the other choice I was debating versus Loadholt for a Vikings My Guy, CB Asher Allen.  Even though Allen has proven to be a catastrophe so far, to the point of me coining the phrase "AA drive me to drink" in describing his play.  What can I say?  I liked him at Georgia.  It's only been two years, he can turn this thing around.)

So that's about the gist of the My Guy situation, but as I look around the local sports scene, I'm realizing that I need to re-tool.  Some of My Guys have arrived, some of them have (literally) departed, and now there are some prominent holes in the roster.  But before looking forward, a quick trip down memory lane:

Hits:

Delmon Young (2008-2010 Twins) - My most prominent success. Had faith in young Delmon while he was swinging at everything in sight and patrolling the outfield like a horse on roller skates.  Now with his breakout season in 2010, it's time to move on down the road, continued success Del.

Matt Birk (1999-2000 Vikings) - Big redheaded center, who came to the team via St. Paul and Harvard?  There was no way I wasn't liking this guy.  Even had some common acquaintances, interned for the same guy at Prudential a few years apart and I actually got Birk's player tickets his rookie season.  He went on to Harvard and the NFL, I went on to the University of North Dakota and a crappy sports blog.  So I guess you could say the similarities stopped pretty abruptly at some point.

Cal Clutterbuck (2007-2009 Wild) - Again, some things are just obvious, who's not going to like a guy named Cal Clutterbuck?  Throw in the fact that he made a name for himself as a rookie with big hits all over the ice, and that's a My Guy waiting to happen.  Had to go another direction this season though, decision TBD, just too much buzz around ol Cal these days.

Misses:

Onterrio Smith (2003-2004 Vikings) - To say the self-proclaimed "Steal of the Draft" didn't exactly pan out would be an insult to pans everywhere.  Promising first couple of years was derailed by failed drug tests and a little thing we like to call The Whizzenator, fun period in Vikings history there.

Eddie Griffin (2004-2006 Wolves) - A favorite college player at Seton Hall, I was intrigued when he came to the Wolves and showed some flashes of the talent that made him a top draft pick.  Unfortunately things never totally clicked on the court and off the court, he was a total trainwreck.  What?  Too soon?

Marcus McCauley (2007-2008 Vikings) - Remember this name?  I might be the only one who does.  At any rate, we needed cornerbacks and I thought this guy was the ticket.  Remember watching him in a few college games at Fresno St (he was there for their short period of relevance) including an epic battle with USC, where he picked off Matt Leinart and took it to the house.  Hey, it was a weak period in team history, I was reaching for whatever.

Hit and Miss:

Devoe Joseph (2008-2010 Gopher basketball) - I still maintain that Devoe was My Guy before he was everyone else's, going back to his freshman season when he was just the bit player who occasional got crazy hot from the outside.  Everything seemed to be coming together at the end of last season, I figured this year would be a victory lap before moving on next season, but instead everything fell apart.

To take stock of the current situation, I've currently got a Vikings Guy (Loadholt), but lack My Guys in every other setting: 

The Timerberwolves Guy choice is an easy one, as Wayne "Duke" Ellington fits the bill perfectly; under-the-radar, loved his game in college and believe he could thrive if they would JUST GIVE HIM A CHANCE!!! 

Wild Guy is also pretty simple, going with rookie Marco Scandella, a former World Juniors standout who was playing fairly well before getting hurt this season.  Not really very many good candidates on this team, lot of midrange types who can't exactly be classified as up-and-coming.  Doesn't exactly bode well for the future, but whatever.

New Gopher hoops Guy midstream is going to be Chip Armelin, who seems like a lock to either become an exciting high-wire act, or get bounced out of the university for grades/discipline issues.  Austin Hollins looks like the better bet at this point, but sure things aren't what this is about, Armelin's My Guy.

Fighting Sioux?  That would be like picking between children, every guy's My Guy.

Which brings us to the Twins, and a darn tough decision.  Was a Duensing fan, but he's already shown too much and surpassed My Guy status.  Danny Valencia has similarly jumped the shark with the buzz he's generated.  The middle infielders both merit consideration, but one is a perpetual disappointment and the others an unknown foreigner.  Not to be xenophobic or anything, but I prefer my My Guys to speak the local tongue.  Even the butchered form practiced by the likes of Carlos Gomez is fine, just tough to get fired up about quotes through a translator, you know?

So where does that leave us?  With a bunch of reclamation projects by the looks of things.  Many a bounceback year expected from this Twins club and one of those guys could've fallen enough in the public's eyes to reclaim My Guy potential.  Sure, Morneau and Nathan are off limits, multiple All-Stars don't fall back into the category, but how about Denard Span and Jason Kubel?  Acceptable to consider either one of them a potential My Guy?  I think so.

So henceforth, Jason Kubel is the official Twins My Guy of Loserville.  Here's hoping he throws things back to 2009 this season, and I'm not regretting this choice while watching him flail away at another outside curve from a lousy lefty a few months from now.