Justin Morneau and Nick Punto are in the starting lineup, so the injuries that forced them to leave Wednesday’s game must have been minor.

Brian Duensing is here and determined to stick around longer than nine games this time.

There are no new developments, as far as the Twins are concerned, in the Miguel Angel Sano pursuit. There is some concern that another team might sign Sano and cross their fingers that he’s really 16. Indications are that the Twins won’t sign Sano unless his age is verified.

The Twins failed to sign any of the top handful of Venezuelan prospects. They won’t celebrate until they get the contracts in their hands, but they expect deals with a few Dominican prospects they feel have pretty good ceilings.

Baseball America is reporting that the Twins have signed Max Kepler from Germany. They claim he’s an outfielder but ESPN’s Keith Law reports that he’s a catcher. Apparently, he’s the top prospect in Europe. What does that mean?

 Now let’s examine the report from FOX’s John Paul Morosi (a person I have a lot of respect for) that the Twins have been chatting up the Pirates about Freddy Sanchez, Matt Capps and John Grabow.

I was told the Twins have liked all those players for awhile and are keeping in touch with the Pirates. But nothing is imminent.

Pittsburgh is in a tough spot because their fans and players are wondering why they are trading good players when they aren’t that far out of it in the N.L. Central. But the Bucs’ brass apparently knows they need to address weaknesses throughout the organization, and the best way to do that is to trade a player for multiple players in return.

Sanchez would fit in nicely as the Twins’ No. 2 hitter, but Bucs beat writer Dejan Kovacevic tweeted that Sanchez isn’t being discussed.

Capps or Grabow would boost the bullpen but several teams are looking for bullpen help. The Twins’ track record suggests they don’t do well when there’s competition. They’ve historically preferred to hold onto their prospects, which doesn’t bode well in this case.

But let me throw this one out: What if the Twins are willing to deal one of their current starters, in addition to a prospect? With Anthony Swarzak’s development and R.A, Dickey a rotation option, would the Twins consider moving a starter? I think the Twins might, at least, consider that approach.

I was told that the Twins are able to add some payroll. I wasn’t told a number but at least they are willing to take on some salary. Sanchez’s salary, however, might be too much to take on. There’s a vesting option for 2010 at $8 million with bonuses that could push it to $9 million. The Twins likely would want Sanchez as a rent-a-player, which affects what they would want to give up. Then there’s that option. 

I’ve written here and said on the radio that I have little confidence that the Twins will make a significant deal. If they pulled something off with Pittsburgh - especially if there’s a breakthrough with Sanchez, I’ll be the first to say I was wrong for doubting them.

Update: Mike Redmond’s forearm is very sore, so he’s probably not available today.

Delmon Young is the DH today to get another righty in against French.

I’m predicting a Denard Span homer today

Tigers (43-35)

1. Curtis Granderson, CF
2. Placido Polanco, 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. Marcus Thames, DH
5. Don Kelly, LF
6. Brandon Inge, 3B
7. Josh Anderson, RF
8. Gerald Laird, C
9. Ramon Santiago, SS

Pitching: Luke French

Twins (41-39)

1. Denard Span, LF
2. Brendan Harris, SS
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Michael Cuddyer, RF
6. Joe Crede, 3B
7. Delmon Young, DH
8. Carlos Gomez, CF
9. Nick Punto, 2B

Pitching: Kevin Slowey

This entry was posted on Friday, July 3rd, 2009 at 4:49 pm and is filed under Game threads. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.