Twins buzz is quiet at GM meetings
Posted on November 5th, 2008 – 11:09 AMBy Joe Christensen
The Twins have gone about their business quietly this week at the annual general managers meetings, in Dana Point, Calif.
On Tuesday, Commissioner Bud Selig preached to the GMs about the dangers of handing out big salaries in this economy. But Scott Boras held court and reminded reporters that MLB does operate its in own world, with built-in stadium naming rights, multi-billion dollar TV contracts, etc.
Yes, teams might suffer at the gate in a bad economy. Suite revenue and corporate sponsorship might slip, but the bottom line is these teams still have big bucks, and the premium free agents (Mark Teixeira, C.C. Sabathia, etc.) are going to get paid again. There’s a theory that the non-stars on the free agent market will get squeezed. Time will tell, I guess.
MLB holds a seminar at the GM meetings with recommendations for how each team should handle arbitration dealings with their players. There are discussions about rules, scheduling and umpires. But the big news usually involves potential player moves.
The free agent market won’t open until Nov. 14, but the GM meetings are fertile ground for trades. That’s where the Twins dealt A.J. Pierzynski to San Francisco in 2003 for some guys named Nathan, Bonser and Liriano.
Last year, the Mets let the Twins know they’d be willing to include Carlos Gomez, Deolis Guerra, Kevin Mulvey and Philip Humber in a package for Johan Santana. The Twins said they’d get back to them, depending on how their contract dealings with Santana went.
The Twins and Rays continued working on a deal that eventually sent Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett to Tampa Bay for Delmon Young, Brendan Harris and Jason Pridie.
This year, there has been very little buzz coming from the Twins. But GM Bill Smith, assistant GM Rob Antony, VP player personnel Mike Radcliff, senior advisor Terry Ryan and pro scouting coordinator Vern Followell are all there, ready to work on potential trades. We’re keeping our ears to the ground and will keep you posted if we hear anything of substance.
69 Responses to "Twins buzz is quiet at GM meetings"
thanks for the info JC. let us know whats happening 
I wish someone would run over Scott Boras in the parking lot after an Angels game. He’s a big reason why we have to shell out over 50 dollars for a good seat at a MLB game.
JC is going to be begging for activity from the Twins this off-season. It won’t happen. The options just aren’t there. Unless we are looking at making a move on Ryan Zimmerman or MAYBE Hank Blaylock at 3B, there is no chance a move gets made. The way Gardy manages the guys that have been mentioned playing the hot corner - Atkins, Kuzmanoff - will be hated by the Twins staff and Harris/Punto/Tolbert by the end of May due to there lack of speed and defensive ability. Don’t even get me started on Beltre… There is no chance we give up a starter for him. There just isn’t the MLB ready talent at AAA to step in right now - Humber, Mulvey aren’t ready yet. If they do have depth in the pen with Mijares, Crain & Neshek next year, there is a chance they could stretch out Guerrier but that is unlikely.
Most likely we will see the same Twins team we saw last year, only a year better. That is fine with me… This line-up should be great:
RF Span
2B Casilla
C Mauer
1B Morneau
3B Cuddyer??
DH Kubel
LF Young
SS Harris (FA - Khalil Greene???)
CF Gomez
Shortstop Green from San Diego seems to be a good fit, $6.5 mil for 09, 27 homers in 07, and a lousy 08 making the asking price lower, very good defender.
It would make rational sense to have Cuddyer share 3rd Base with Butcher. Has anyone asked him what his thoughts are.
When Cuddyer came up initially, he rotated between third and the outfield, and suffered somewhat offensively, but he has the skills. Wouldn’t it be nice, if he embraced this move, our questions at third would over then.
cradam
Greene isn’t a Free Agent
Jeff
Cuddyer was not and is not a 3B. His fielding was horrible.
What happens 15 games in when Cuddy gets hurt and goes on the 60 day DL? Cuddyer is useless, and can not be counted on for anything. He is not a viable option for any position in the Twins lineup. He got paid based on one career year.
Hopefully Green is not a real option. He pretty much sucked in all phases last year. Punto is a better option than him.
All I hope is that they don’t try and recycle all these 1-2 million dollar veterans that weren’t needed by their previous teams, we stink for the first month or two until management realizes their mistake. Then they get cut and rookies come in and do the job a hundred times better. The only useful guys in free agency are the true stars that will cost at least 7-8 million. Everyone else is just a backup.
Can’t wait for the headline
“Punto signs with Wazata Town Team or any other MLB team”
Greg is exactly right but all teams need to keep searching for that one player that will have a few career years.
I have heard a trade rumor that DY will possibly be going to San Diego in a trad for Kouz
Trading DY to San Diego makes alot more sense than trying to make Cuddy a 3rd baseman. It didn’t work the first time around.
Otherwise, keep the 4 outfielders and mix and match them in the outfield and with Kubel at DH. This way we may also have a legit hitter on the bench.
cradam:
more like this:
span cf
casilla 2b
mauer c
morneau 1b
cuddyer rf
kubel dh
harris ss
buscher 3b
gomez cf
bench:
redmond c
punto 3b/ss/2b/of
tolbert 3b/ss/2b
young of
The Twins will and always will be frugal, even in the new stadium and it’s new found revenues! Get over it! Expect the Twins to make one authentic run at the division/playoffs every three to four years! It is what it is and always will be, even with Mauer, Morneau and a young group of decent pitchers!
Joe can you tell me why we are not hearing that the Twins are interested in a Furcal, or a Hudson for our middle infield. Both of these players are far superior to Orlando Cabrera and not much difference in the $$$ either. What I would rather see is a trade for a J.J. Hardy and fill third base with a Joe Crede or a Kasey Blake. We could also trade for a decent 3rd baseman (Beltre) and sign Furcal or Hudson. Can you imagine the excitement that one of these scenarios would provide? We are soooooo close please don’t blow it Bill Smith.
There is no way that the Twins will have Gomez, Span, Cuddyer, or Young on the bench…meaning somethings got to give. Either someone gets traded or Cuddy goes back to third…which I can’t see happening.
The Twins fans will be lucky to see the 2009 payroll of 65 million, which is 5 million less than 2 YEARS AGO! The Twins 2009 record will be about 86-76 because Detroit will go out and get better players (they had alot of players hurt last year also) and Cleveland will be exponentially better (they also got drubbed with injuries)! The Sox won’t sit on their hands either. It will be an awful tough division; it will be a dogfight to the finish again. Unfortunately, the Twins will be on the outside looking in again. But, we are building for the 2010 run anyway! Right?! We have ZERO power! Look at all the playoff teams (Phillies, Cubs, Rays, Dodgers, Red Sox, Angels, White Sox, etc.)! What did they have ample of? POWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Many team’s second baseman and shortstops hit as many homeruns as our power hitter/cleanup hitter! Now that’s sad! (Pedroia, Utley, Uggla, Phillies shortstop, Khalil Greene=two years ago, Ramirez=White Sox second baseman, etc…and that’s just the start of the list)!!!!!!!!
USA Today has Morneau listed as it’s MVP for this year and ESPN has DY being traded to San Diego for Kouz
jama - Cuddyer was actually drafted as a Shortstop
trading delmon for the padres 3B would be the worst trade in franchise history
Is Chase Headley untouchable? Would he be an option in return for Delmon instead of Kouzmanoff?
[…] Around the Majors – […]
If there is nothing report than why write anything at all….
twinsfan,
I 2nd that. Trading 23 year old Delmon Young would be silly at this point.
Dawg,
You forgot the Brewers, who are VERY dependent on power for runs.
Twins don’t need to try and get a bunch of sluggers-they really just need 1-2 guys with more power to help better balance out the small ball.
Sometimes 1 swing of the bat can make a difference (ask Jim Thome).
I wonder what it would take to get Prince Fielder over here to be our next DH
How about trading a starting pitcher or two(Blackburn? Perkins? Slowey? Humber? Boof? Duensing? Mulvey?) to the Brewers for JJ Hardy? They will be desperate for starting pitching especially if they lose both CC and Sheets and they have a SS at AA that they are really high on. If we traded any two of those starters, we’d still have the other five to fill out the rotation with Liriano and Baker plus Swarzak getting groomed another year at AAA.
I saw a rumor that the Yankees are desperate for a centerfielder, and are interested in trading Robinson Cano as well…
We should trade one of our many outfielders (maybe even Span) for Cano… then we can move Casilla to Short and have our infield set for years to come!
um, cuddyer was drafted as a SS, and moved to 3B in the minors, and finally to OF in the majors……
Young for Kuzmanoff is a terrible trade. Kuzmanoff batted .260 last season, with an obp of .299. He struck out 140 times, with 23 walks. He is below average in the field, with a career fielding percentage of .954, and a zone rating, which is the percentage of balls fielded in his typical defensive zone, at .763, also way below average. He basically fits nothing that the Twins look for in a player. He strikes out a lot. Doesn’t get on base. Is lousy in the field. Turns 28 next year, so he basically has reached his ceiling. This trade would solve nothing, as a guy like Buscher would put up better numbers at the plate and basically give us the same player in the field. Stupid trade, anyone who knows anything about baseball knows this isnt an option, unless S.D. was throwing in a very good prospect also, and even then I’d question it.
“then we can move Casilla to Short and have our infield set for years to come!
”
Who is our set infielder for those years to come
Who will play at 3rd base for those many years
if young is as bad as the local media and many bloggers say he is it may be a good trade. kouzmanoff has much better #’s on the road away from petco, which is a real pitchers park, he’s still buscher like in the field. maybe young for headley, who is younger and had good #’s away from petco also. he was a very highly rated prospect coming into the yr. trading young at this time could really blow up in his face if smith did it. make a lot of people around here very happy, however and may be the best for everyone. seems like he is hated more than what is justified.
I believe the Twins would benefit from trading
Delmon Young, Glen Perkins, and Boof Bonser to the SD Padres for
Khalil Greene, Kouzmanoff, and Dylan Axelrod.
The Padres want to dump payroll, and Axelrod has some potential as a High A and AA level prospect.
Padres rebuild pitching, get a young OF, Headley gets to play 3rd, and while I am not 100% on Kouz, I love Greene. He has a great arm, he can hit for power, and while he is a SS now, I see him being able to be a very capable 3rd baseman just in case Kouz can’t handle the job.
Headley won’t go anywhere… the Pads like him too much.
Wouldn’t mind having Garza ALCS MVP, and the Rays MVP Bartlett back in the field.
I would love to see Cano at second for the twins. I would even give up Gomez and then make Span our CF. I understand everyones rush to ship out Delmon but he is one of the better young hitters in the league, my only concern with him is his weight. (see brother Dimitri)…..
DY runs like a gimp Mr. Furley
(AKA Don Knotts)
If you keep your ear to the ground 1) you’ll get a stiff neck 2) you’ll get dirt in your ear which could lead to trouble (not too mention not being able to hear) 3) someone will eventually step on your head! (ouch) Where do all these stupid sayings come from?
DD Austin -
“Nose to the grind stone”
That may hurt if a person did that
I heard that Furcal may not resign with the Dodgers on http://www.mlbtraderumors.com
The Twins should most definitely jump on him!
The Situationer Furcal played horrible in the playoffs this year against Philly. He fielded like an infield version of DY.
The only way S.D. trades Headley is if they get another stud 3B prospect somewhere in the Peavy deal. Headley is the future at third for them. Kouzmanoff absolutely is not worth it. I don’t care what he hits away from Petco field, 140 strikeouts is 140 strikeouts, and 23 walks is 23 walks, no matter what field you are at. And his fielding is dreadful. If he was knocking in 120+ a year, he’d be worth the 30-40 runs he’ll cost you over a season by making errors and having limited range. The fact some on here mention him as an option is baffling. By mid April you’d be crying foul about why we would deal for a Buscher clone at third who strikes out more than anyone on our team, never draws walks, and is god awful in the field. The Nationals might move Zimmerman, but on top of Young, we’d have to give up a pretty good arm, but he’d be worth it. He already is probably the best fielding third baseman in baseball, except when Youkilis is playing third, is only 24, and makes very little. Zimmerman also has good power potential, and with the hitters we can surround him with, he would probably knock in 100 runs easy if healthy. If we give up Young, we MUST get equal value in return, especially when you consider what we gave up to bring him here.
Furcal would be amazing. Don’t judge him on ONE bad game in the playoffs. The guy is a stud and would be a significant upgrade at the SS position, obviously. The Twins don’t sign guys like this though, that’s the bottom line. Furcal is going to demand $12M+ out in the market and he’ll get it from someone.
@ DAWGZILLA
Increasing power numbers for the Twin’s isn’t going to get them in the post season. Guys like, Arod, Pujols, Adam Dunn, Carlos Delgado, Migual Cabrera all got to go home after the season.
Teams like Dodgers, Angels, Rays we’re bottom half for team power.
Twin’s hitting wasn’t the problem. The goal to winning games is scoring runs and stopping runs. Twins did a superb job of scoring runs which they out scored EVERY TEAM in post season except redsox and cubs. Pitching on the other hand they suffered, Every team in the postseason had a lower team era then the Twins, including the White sox.
Also, on top of the excellent pitching playoff teams had, they were also superb in the field. Look at the Red Sox, Phillies, Rays and Angels, all of them are excellent defensive teams. We need to get back to playing defense the way we know how. The outfield should be very good, Catcher, 1b and 2b will be gold glove caliber, now we just need to shore up the left side of the infield. And lets not forget the bullpen. The Twins have a chance to be really good this year if they fix a couple little things.
3rd Base possibilities (though not likely with the always fiscally tight Twins) in free agency:
1. Casey Blake - solid defense, good pop, and not too expensive probably 5.5 million
2. Joe Crede - most talent, solid glove, lots of power, bad back, easily 11 million a year
3. Hank Blaylock - How the mighty have fallen. Can’t stay healthy, may not be able to play 3rd anymore… but that shows the weakness of this position, will sign a 1 year incentive laced contract somewhere in hopes of being healthy to get PAID in 2010.
4. Mark Loretta - I wanted to go 5 deep, but I couldn’t 3rd Base is dead in free agency. The more I look at it, Blake might get more than 5.5 because he has no one else as competition as the 2nd guy behind Crede’s injured back. Loretta is Nick Punto without the head first slides, and the locker room love fest with Gardenhire.
The 5th best option as I see it in free agency is Russell Branyan and if that doesn’t say everything you need to know…
Overall, unless they can trade for a significant upgrade over Buscher I think they keep him at 3rd, and worry about bringing in a big time SS or 2nd baseman (LIKE ORLANDO HUDSON!!!! and move Cassilla over to SS).
if the dodgers really want to trade russell martin, or move him to 3rd base.
why dont the twins get in on him..
he can play 3rd for us and then he could catch so mauer can DH
SS is a different situation.
1. Rafael Furcal - Dodgers want him back, and he’s coming back from a massive injury… if healthy, an excellent number 2 hitter. My guess he resigns with LA.
2. Orlando Cabrera - Taking him away from the White Sox would be great, he still has some pop, and is good in the field, but he is going to be expensive.
3. Edgar Renteria - I think we can all expect him to rebound nicely from last year, and at a much more reasonable price. I see him signing 3 years 25 million, and to take that away from Det might not be terrible. He would be a great number 2 hitter for the Twins as well.
4. David Eckstein - This guy was born to be a Twin. He is scrappy, and he is always playing above is precieved ability. He would be a great number 2 hitter that can bunt, hit and run, he has a great eye, he plays hardnosed defense… think Punto with Talent, and he will be about 7 million which is scary, but his teams always make the post season!
5. Nomar Garciaparra - ok so it did drop off a bit for number 5. Garciaparra has limited range, is getting old, and can’t stay healthy. So the reason I threw him out here is because I think in the AL he could make a nice right handed hitting DH, and he can play both SS and 3rd Base. You have to pay for his name because his game isn’t the same anymore. If healthy he’s a 290 hitter with 20 homers, and 90 RBI kind of guy… can he stay healthy, and can you get him for less than 7 million a year?
Russell Martin would cost this team A HELL OF A LOT OF MONEY AND PROSPECTS. I think that is a huge problem. Why would you try and pick up the 2nd or 3rd best catcher in baseball when you already have the best? As much as I think Mauer wears a dress I still think he’s the best catcher in baseball. For all the DH Mauer, or 3b Mauer talk it’s insane! He is the best catcher in the game, and with this young staff… he makes each of them about half a run a game better than they would be without him… and with our middle of the road offense (yes I know they came in 3rd last year in runs scored, but without power they could also finish behind KC next season!)
I like the idea of picking up Orlando Hudson to play 2nd and moving Casilla to SS.
But this lineup needs pop, so I’m not sure what they are going to do. Hudson doesn’t provide much pop. 10 homers if he takes the Clear 15 if he shoots up whatever Bonds mostlikely took.
Why not offer SD — Cuddy and an arm — perkins, blackburn, boof, Mulvey, Humber, Duensing for Greene. You don’t trade DY at 23 the kid hit almost 300 the 2nd half with 10 hrs. If he hits 300 with 20 next year at 24 that is the right direction. Get him on a better diet/workout plan is necessary. how he got 10 SBs is beyond me.
Sign Casey Blake for 3B huge upgrade and adds vet to the team.
Signing Hudson is probably out of reach at 10M per year. not sure what Dunn wants but he definitely is due to become a DH.
An if you really want to dream. Come on B.Smith blow the socks off the world and land C.C. After you trade away Cuddy’s bad contract you will have the money. An pitching is what wins championships. C.C, Liriano, Baker, Slowey,Perkins or blackburn.
Luke Hughes may be ready to take 2B and allow us to move Casilla to short. Why not give Cuddyer a try at third and see if can be an adequate fill? Dan Valencia will have the job in 2 years. The guy is a hitter.
Many Delmon Young trade rumors out there, but none I would want. Here’s a good one from the Padres:
“Many seem to forget his still being just 23 years of age and that a breakout could still come at any time. For the Padres, he provides a quality outfielder with a cannon arm in right or center allowing the Padres flexibility on defense.”
You all have the 2009-2110 line-up all wrong. Span, Gómez, and Young will be gone, replaced by Manny in left, Milton Bradley in center and Ibañez in right. Abreau will be their back-up. Kubel will be traded and Cuddyer will fake another injury. But fear not, the new DH will be Junior Griffey. Yes, Mt. Cheap will open his wallet because he knows that another shabby team will never fill the new stadium.
The Twins would’ve been fine this year had their bullpen not melted down. That has to be their number one priority for next year. More power on offense would be nice, but the team speed mitigates the lack of power to the extent that they score enough runs.
Twins need a shortstop, a third baseman, a right fielder, 3 relievers, and a starter
1. Twins don’t have a shortstop or a good option in the minors. Alexei Casilla can apparently slide over to short if needed so that opens up the available FAs the Twins can look at. Twins have a lot of money to spend and owe it to the fans to put a legit Series contender on the field. The only legit options there are in free agency are: Orlando Hudson, Orlando Cabrera, or Rafael Furcal. If one of those 3 isn’t signed, Bill Smith is a failure.
2. Twins need a third baseman badly. I wouldn’t mind seeing Luke Hughes given a shot at that position, but realistically, an outside player needs to be acquired or signed. Garrett Atkins, Adrian Beltre, Hank Blalock, or Mark Teixeira are the only legit options that could help this team. Again, if 1 of those 4 isn’t a Twin on opening day, Bill Smith is a failure.
3. Twins need a right fielder. Cuddyer is powerless, Gomez is terrible, Young will apparently be dealt soon, and Span has to be in center field for the Twins to fully take advantage of his tools. I’d like to see Young kept, but Bill Smith already screwed up one trade by inexplicably dealing Garza, which I said the day of the trade, and now he’ll screw up dealing Young away inexplicably. Kubel can play left, Span in center, and sign Bobby Abreu, Pat Burrell, Rocco Baldelli, Raul Ibanez, or Juan Rivera to play right.
4. They need 3 relievers. They have Nathan, Crain, and Mijares. The rest need to be replaced. Juan Cruz, Brian Fuentes, and Kerry Wood are free agents, Ricky Barrett, Brian Duensing, Anthony Swarzak, Robert Delaney, and Ben Julianel are all viable options.
5. They need a starter. Perkins or Blackburn needs to be dealt to fill holes. Kevin Mulvey, Ran Dempster, Derek Lowe, and Jon Garland are the best replacement options unless a starter is acquired via trade.
The Twins, although have said it was an option in the past, have said that they liked the way Casilla played at 2B this year and do not want to move him away from his comfort zone (similar to how Cuddyer got comfortable in RF).
Young will apparently be dealt soon
All the Young trade speculation comes from 2 sources:
Charlie Walters and
Sid Hartman
and gets propagated through the internets (sic)
If Smith deals Young, Karl Jr should deal Smith. It ain’t happening. Look at Walters’ whispers: Young for Cain, then Young for Kouz, next will be Young for a player to be named later. If an outfielder gets dealt, it will be Cuddyer.
from mlb trade rumor:
Here’s a new one: Baggarly’s heard the Phillies will listen to offers for shortstop Jimmy Rollins. Rollins is owed just $23.5MM over the next three seasons.
phillies are losing their lf’r young plus what for rollins?
thrylos, many around here won’t be happy until young is gone.
Hey Nico,
Here’s an opposing viewpoint by the numbers…
1. Hudson in 407 AB’s hit .305 with .367OBP 8 HR 41RBI & 4 SB and according to my Yahoo fantasy roster was rated the 28th best 2B in baseball behind such fodder as Ray Durham!
Cabrera was rated as the 9th overall SS, but was only marginally better than such luminaries as Cristian Guzman and Mike Aviles plus was considered by his team to be a clubhouse cancer.
Furcal, Yeah I’d love to have a healthy Furcal but a 31 year old SS with back issues is at least a questionable decision for the king of money he will command.
Here’s my suggestion.. Clint Barmes he can play both SS & 2B, he’s blocked by Tulowitzski and is splitting time at second and is 2 years younger than Furcal. He like Furcal is an injury risk but the injury he’s most known for was falling down a flight of stairs.
2. Teixeira is a 1B, not 3B. If we couldn’t get Beltre for the 2008 playoff drive I am not that excited to rent him for an even shorter stint for 2009.
Texas still has an option for Blalock so we would have to trade for him at this moment in time and considering he had 258 AB’s in 2008 are you willing to give up to then see him walk if does actually perform?
Atkins I have little problem with, the question will always be how he plays closer to sea level but I’d take a chance on that, the only thing is we have made a run at him in the past & couldn’t get it done then so I’m not sure how that changes now.
3. RF, Abreu, won’t happen why would he come here and with a youth movement why would we want him?
Pat the Bat, just hired a second agent from Philly to try and stay there, however his production is related to how soon his contract expires, not interested.
Baldelli, a part time player at this point, if you can’t play all the games in the WS now, how is he going to get better?
Last year Ibanez hit 23HR with 110 RBI in 2006 Cuddyer hit 24HR with 109 RBI. Ibanez is 1 year older than Cuddy so for my money it is just as reasonable to expect Cuddy to bounce back from the freakish injuries he’s had the last two years than to think that Raul would be substantially better.
On GO-GO & DY we just flat out disagree, it would be nice if DY didn’t look like he was running on a ice rink, but I’m excited by the youth movement.
For Juan Rivera, the Angels and Yankees liked him so much that they traded him and or burried him in their depth charts. Of the bunch he’s the one I’d be the most excited about, but to me he still just amounts to sloppy seconds.
4. Fuentes & Wood will want closer money, not going to happen here.
Cruz had a career year ERA wise but also pitched just over half the innings this year compared to 2006. in 06 he had 94.2 innings with a 4.18 ERA in 07 he pitched 61 innings at a 3.10 ERA. In 08 he pitched 51.2 innings for a 2.61 ERA. He did have an oblique issue that limited him to 2 appearances in July but he is 30 years old. Spin the wheel take your chances?
5. This is debatable, I’d like to think that the young guns will continue to improve and am willing to take the chance, but really is there any team that couldn’t say…”Gee it sure would be nice to pick up a front of the rotation starter!”
Two of your proposals state that Billy is a failure if he doesn’t follow through with your suggestions. I couldn’t disagree more frankly and am willing to play it out & see what happens.
Thanks for your time,
Shannon
Barmes is slated to be the opening day 2B in CO. The Jayson Nix experiment did not happen, and their top 2B prospect is still a year away. I don’t think a Barmes acquisition is likely, he’s valued by the Rockie org.
Four words for the Twins:
Do. Not. Trade. Span.
The rest of the outfield, do what you want. But, to me, Span is the future of this team. Leave him be.
Keep Young. Keep Cuddyer. That one will work itself out. Injury! We’ll be sorry if Young is traded. You don’t sit Young on the bench and play Cuddyer. Young has a much higher ceiling. Cuddy is what he is, and Young is already that much and in some ways more. I heard something about his work ethic. If that’s the problem, do something about it. But I still like Young’s performanc over two seasons in the big leagues, and his tremendous potential. So did the Twins when they traded Garza and Bartlett last year. I still say, make a move for Cano and then move Casilla to short. Cano’s stock went down last year with the Yankees, but he still is VERY talented and young.
Shannon….
1. Hudson had a fluke injury that kept him out the last 1/3 of the season. He is a top 3 2B when healthy.
Barmes isn’t even remotely as good as the 3 I mentioned. He doesn’t have a consistent bat and Twins fans would get sick of him quick.
2. Teixeira was drafted as a third baseman and could slide back there. Of course Cuddyer at third be the cheapest move, but Gardenhire is a fool and won’t make that move.
Atkins has hit more homers in his career on the road then at home. Due to the huge outfield in Colorado, Garrett’s average is higher at Coors, but he’d be fine here.
Blalock is healthy and I’d love to see him here.
3. Why would I want Abreu? He’s a professional hitter, has some power, steals some bases, is a decent hitter, and would provide a lot more protection to Morneau then anyone else on the roster currently does.
I just want Burrell’s bat. He could rotate with Kubel in the outfield and DH. A 30+ homer a year guy from the right side is sorely needed here.
Baldelli would be a high quality, relatively cheap power threat. Sure he can’t play every game, but 2 out of 3 is probable and his bat would be of great use.
Ibanez has had excellent years more then just last year. Cuddyer has done very little at the plate other then that 1 year. Ibanez is a very good player, Cuddyer, not so much. Ibanez has five 20+ homer seasons and four 100+ rbi seasons. Cuddyer has one 20 homer season, one 100 rbi season, one 81 rbi season, and he’s never been above 45 rbi in any other season. He just isn’t capable of producing the way the Twins need.
4. Cruz has been dominant as a reliever since he came into the league. He was terrible as a starter which resulted in some high ERA totals. However, as a reliever over his career he has been elite. HE would be the ideal 8th inning guy of the pitchers available in FA, and one fo the top in all of baseball really.
Fuentes will want closer money, there is no doubt about it, and with Nathan’s contract rather inexpensive for the best closer in baseball, I’d put Nathan on the block and see what level of infield player or prospect the Twins could get in return and have Fuentes close.
Wood may want closer money, but the reality is he is still a high injury risk. Offering him a low base price with a lot of easily attainable incentives would be the way to go. He would also be a great 8th inning option or another reason to see what the Twins could get for Nathan.
5. What’s debatable? There is no way Perkins or Blackburn will be as effective next year. They both pitched way over their heads this year. Dump 1 or both while they have value.
Wow we need to put young as DH and keep cuddyer in right that’s our strength Punto or Harris at third is fine with me.
Chris, we do that and we go 75-87. Cuddyer needs to either be shipped or be a right handed pimch hitter. His lack of mobility and inability to hit the long ball (or in the clutch) makes him a .245-.255 punch and judy hitter and we have tons of those on this club.
Bill Smith is horrible. Remember Craig Monroe? Mike Lamb? Adam Everett? Livan Henrnandez? Leaving Liriano in the minors and costing us a division championship? Failing to go after any bullpen help or right handed power hitters? Johann Santana for Carlos Gomez and his huge strikeout numbers and perennial 265-.275 batting average, and two stiffs on the mound who will be gone after 2009? TB’s MVP Jason Bartlett and rising superstar pitcher Matt Garza for Delmon “Dead from the neck up” Young and Brandon Harris?
He is an absolute joke as a GM. With so many in this country losing their jobs it is a miracle he still has his?
You want a guy who can play flash leather and hit home runs? Joe Crede. I know he has back problems but give him an incentive laden contract and you won’t have to worry about where to play Punto and Harris, they’ll be on the bench with Casilla at short and Hughes at 2b.
