Liriano could be scratched from tonight’s start
Posted on July 29th, 2009 – 1:16 PMBy La Velle
Twins lefthander Francisco Liriano was sent to the hospital last night to have swelling in his left forearm examined and might not be able to start tonight against the White Sox.
Liriano, who had an MRI exam while at the hospital, will be checked out when he arrives at the Dome later this afternoon.
“It will be a (team trainer) Rick McWane and (pitching coach) Rick Anderson decision,” Twins general manager Bill Smith said moments ago.
Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey and lefthander Brian Duensing are candidates to take the ball if Liriano can’t start.
Liriano, 4-10 with a 5.56 ERA, has been a major disappointment this season. He’s winless in his last four starts.
The last thing the Twins need is another injury to a starting pitcher. There’s little depth beyond righthander Anthony Swarzak, who is filling in for Kevin Slowey (wrist surgery) for the rest of the season.
138 Responses to "Liriano could be scratched from tonight’s start"
and the line for tonights game just moved in the twins favor
Could this be a lie to scratch him from his start to send him to Pitts for Sanchez??? One can only hope!
Maybe there is something wrong with his arm that’s led to him pitching poorly? This isn’t helping our trade front though, with him, Revere and Ramos all hurt a bit right now.
I doubt it, but I hope so as well. he is done here and needs a change of scenery. If he is gone though, we need a starter for sure.
Better hope this is minor, we have zero left in the minors as far as starter help.
I don’t see him being moved with the depth of our starting pitching right now; even with how bad he’s been.
I’d rather see him out there tonight than Dickey/Duensing.
La Velle,
it appears the Pirates are about done selling all the players we might want, if indeed the Giants get Sanchez. Any other hints of whispers of rumors on any trade front? Do you really think Mauer might walk if the FO doesn’t act this year?
I hope this is only a small blip on Liriano’s radar because we don’t really have much for options in Rochester. I’m somewhat intrigued with Dickey and what he could do over 6-7 innings. I would love to have another good outing by our starters to give the bullpen more rest and have them ready to go for the next series.
How could we replace somebody who is 4-10 with a 5.56 ERA?
I view it as a major failure that Anderson hasn’t improved Liriano’s mechanics. My prediction is that Liriano eventually leaves after little success/lots of injury time and then someone straightens him out and he becomes solid. Think we could have sent Garza to a shrink in Minnesota???
why not a deal for Snell, Sanchez, and Wilson??? We need to do something NOW!!! Come on Billy!!! You have the 3 big stars on this team telling you something needs to be done. Damn it, do something!
Dang! The White Sox have been pounding Liriano lately. Throw a no name pitcher against the Sox and their bats shrivel up.
Anyone know if Jeff Manship is anywhere near ready to move up to at least Rochester?
I’d feel a lot better if we had a solid starter working down in Rochester and ramping up in case we need him with Slowey done, Perkins kinda wobley, and Liriano now apparently shakey.
It appears Wilson and Snell were traded to Mariners by Pirates. The Twins could have easily made this deal!!! One can only hope they didn’t because they plan to acquire Sanchez.
no i dont think mauer will walk if the gm doesn’t act this season but he possibly will if their is no off season genuine trade to supplement this team. i will bark it again from the blog here, change has got to come in terms of making viable upgrade quality trades to take full advantage of the fact that we have mauer and morneau with about 5-7years of prime baseball in them now, the future is now !
Forget the bullpen and middle infield. The Twins need a starter or two.
Whoever pitches tonight cannot be worse than Liriano. He’s 88th of the 91 pitchers that have qualified for the ERA title. Once you have an ERA near 6, it doesn’t really matter all that much if it is 7 or 8 instead….
This shows, once again, why NO PLAYER should be untouchable….
La Velle, what’s the latest you’re hearing on the trade front?
I think the latest on the Twins trade front is that they traded Mulvey to Rochester for Crain.
Seattle seems to want to move Washburn??? Let’s get a veteran starter…
Billy Smith is worthless…fire him now!!!
I am so sick of watching every contending team EXCEPT the Twins grab players they need to give them a boost for the postseason. Kudos to the Giants if this goes through, their GM has set them up very nicely for the postseason with Garko and maybe Sanchez. For some reason, the Twins have been deadset against this type of operating for years. We might as well just take a page from the Pirates and trade all our good players away, since we are apparently only concerned with the future and doing nothing to win now
And they traded Tolbert for Casilla! Don’t forget that move….and they signed Grudzy (who I think they said would take a month to be ready….).
What do you people want them to do? You CANNOT give up prospects for the present. Two birds in the bush are worth more than 1 in the hand….
I think Washburn would be a great pickup at this point in time with our starters in question. Perhaps we can work a deal with Washburn and their newest addition, Wilson, and that would answer two questions of immediate need.
Could this be a lie to scratch him from his start to send him to Pitts for Sanchez???
I would imagine the last thing a team would want to do with a player about to be traded is get everybody thinking he’s hurt…
Let’s hope it’s nothing serious…the Twins are running short on pitchers in the minors and most of the good SPs out there on the trade market would likely want a MLB player (or two) back.
Twins don’t have much to spare as far as *QUALITY* major leaguers are concerned.
Matt says at 1:41 pm “Anyone know if Jeff Manship is anywhere near ready to move up to at least Rochester?
Manship has been in Rochester for some time now……. 37.1 innings, 3-1, 2.89 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 6 games started………
Nice … the Twins have Cleveland 12 more times and won’t have to face Cliff Lee anymore … hopefully the Tribe trades Victor Martinez too in the next two days.
bring back Livan!!!
god just do something, the division is so weak and you’re only a couple of games out. what is the point if the front office is not going to give the team every chance to win. new ballpark has obviously changed nothing.
Well, if this guy is plugged in Sanchez to Giants will happen.
http://twitter.com/nyp_joelsherman/status/2914731069
Mariners also traded Balentien to Reds.
You’d think the FO would at least have made a call to the Paul Byrd camp by now. I’m curious as to why we’ve not heard any rumblings about this.
Meanwhile Billy Smith fiddles while Rome is burning.
What’s funny is that neither Detroit (who’s lost two in a row and is only 2 games up) and the White Sox (who are 2 games back and looking at a potential sweep by the other team in 2nd)…have done nothing to actually help themselves either.
But no. Only the Twins are morons.
Meanwhile Billy Smith fiddles while Rome is burning.
And Kenny Williams publically said already he is not doing anything.
wouldn’t it be cool to see if we could ‘platoon’ a SP? Dickey 1-3, Deunseng 4-6, Keppel 7-8, Nathan 9
Is Terry Mulholland busy?
and i don’t mean just tonight b/c that’s obvious, i mean for the rest of the year, have the 4 headed monster instead of an actual starter!
Washburn? Really? I want some of what you guys are on.
What’s Paul Byrd up to these days?
WHY on EARTH would you want Ian Snell??? He SUCKS! and Wilson is overpaid.
Maybe Rickey Henderson could play 2b for us.
“And Kenny Williams publically said already he is not doing anything.”
And if Kenny Williams jumped off a bridge, should Billy Smith do the same?
wouldn’t it be cool to see if we could ‘platoon’ a SP? Dickey 1-3, Deunseng 4-6, Keppel 7-8, Nathan 9
Thats called a start by glen perkins…
If they make a deal for Sanchez and Weurtz plus sign in the off season either Blalock or Crede (to an incentive laden deal) they could have a great lineup plus around 12-14 million dollars to sign a starter in FA. They would be right at 100 million and since they are getting the money for the stadium this type of team salary is manageable plus it is very competitve.
Line up: (with 2010 salary)
1. Span (LF) 8oo k
2. Sanchez (2b) 10 million
3. Mauer (c) 12.5 million
4. Morneau (1b) 14 million
5. Cuddyer (rf) 8.5 million
6. Kubel (dh) 4.1 million
7. Crede/Blalock (3b) 8 mill (incent)
8. Harris (ss) 800 k
9. Gomez (cf) 600 k
SP Bedard 12 million
SP Baker 3 million
SP Blackburn 500 k
SP Slowey 500 k
SP Perkins 500 k
RP Weurtz 1.5 million
RP Mijares 400 k
RP Liriano 500 k
RP Guerrier 2 million
RP Neshek 600 k
RP Duensing 400 k
RP Nathan 11.25 million
BN Morales (c) 400 k
BN Young (of) 1.5 million
BN Punto (inf) 4 million
BN Buscher (utl) 500 k
That is a competitive line up and staff for right at or very close to 100 million. The Twins said they would have more money to be competitive and this would be for a good fair price. The Pohlads still will make alot of money and the team can compete for the World Series not just the Central Title.
So what. No issue. Just trade Punto to the Yanks for Sabbathia and Burnett. Problem solved. Sometimes ya just have to bite the bullet and take the short end of a deal in order to fill a need.
Chicago and Detroit don’t have the 2 best all-around players in the league to build around. The Tigers and Whitesox don’t have power at 3B for this year ONLY. Cuddyer has never had back to back good seasons so he’ll either get hurt or stink again next year. This is our only shot this year.
Thats called a start by glen perkins…
Except no nathan, because we would definitely be on the losing side of that one. In all seriousness though, this is a defining moment for the management. Sink or swim time.
And if Kenny Williams jumped off a bridge, should Billy Smith do the same?
Given the tastelessness of some of the posters comments the last few days, I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what some of them would want.
The Twins can’t afford to fill every hole with a trade. All of these injuries and needs make it extremely hard to make a meaningful trade.
T
Are you the Twins apologist on this blog?
Why should people on this blog care about calling all 3 teams in contention morons since none has made a deal yet?
I think this is a Twins blog, let the people vent.
The division is there for the taking. The Twins 3 best players have said something needs to be done, after many years of inactivity.
I tend to agree with most people, that if we can improve the team, let’s do it. I also agree with the sentiment that I have little faith in BS to pull off an adequate deal.
This is our only shot this year.
Haven’t people such as yourself been saying exactly that for the last…oh…2-3 years?
Great. The deadline list just got bigger.
• (2) Starting pitchers
• (2-3) Relief Pitchers
• (1-2) Middle Infielders
• And a replacement for Robbie Inkmahjowski.
Get to work Bill. This is our only shot this year.
“Is Terry Mulholland busy?”
how bout blyleven?
I agree with WILDfan, if Liriano has an injury it is big trouble. Not only does it put starters in a lurch it also probably stalls any talks we are having with Toronto, Oak, or Pittsburgh. Now literally no trade can fill enough needs
Liriano being scratched is not really bad news - unless tonight was going to be the begining of his big comeback.
Tomorrow’s an off day so Overrated can use a few pitchers tonight.
Which would be worse: standing pat or making a Delmon Young-esque trade?
Is someone on here Bill Smith’s public relations director?
That’s not fair. You need to go patrol your own sandbox. This one already has our rancid odor attached…
Anyone know if the steam on Scutaro is legit?
So the Twins have said they want to fill two holes with one trade - here are some options:
Washburn and Mark Lowe/Sean White from Seattle
or
Scutaro and Frasor/Downs from Toronto
or
Eckstein and Bell from San Diego
or
Harang/Brandon Phillips/David Weathers from Cincinnatti
or
Tejada and Hawkins from Houston
or
Brian Roberts and Jim Johnson from the Orioles
or
Guzman and Beimel from the Nationals
or
Qualls and Doug Davis from the Diamondbacks
Plenty of options out there to upgrade this team (some more than others).
making a bad trade would be worse than standing pat, why do you ask? If they are afraid to make a trade because it might turn out badly, they probaby need a new job.*
*I doubt that they are afraid, but that seemed to be the implication….
I wonder if Victor Martinez has ever played any left field.. Part time DH part time Catcher… part time left fielder…Big Bat switch hitter signed to a reasonable contract… OH never mind…
Like always we will be a team that will be close to getting a great player like Sanchez and we will lose out. Sanchez would be a perfect fit for the Twins not only in the #2 spot, but he plays a good 3B as well and we all know 3B is a huge question mark this season and next season with Crede always hurt and Buscher being terrible. Getting Sanchez fills a huge hole and he already publictly said he would like to come to the Twins and would sign an extention for the next year. We keep seeing in reports that Bill Smith keeps trying to get 2 players in 1 trade for instance Cabrera and Wuertz, then Sanchez and Grabow. The Twins don’t have the trade bait in minors for a 2 player deal, he needs to focus on Sanchez and get in done and not furthur complicate things. The Twins must fire Bill Smith before he completely ruins our franchise and scares Joe Mauer away with his incompetince.
I REALLY HATE TO SAY THIS…..BUT I THINK WE HAVE ANOTHER EDDIE BANE ON OUR HANDS HERE……..I HOPE NOT….. BUT HE’S HEADING IN THE SAME DIRECTION……….
The trade deadline is where already good teams shore up their rosters for the playoff push and beyond. It isn’t where you hope to make a .500 ballclub(which would be in 4th place in most divisions) into a contender.
I don’t want BS to make a trade or deal just for the sake of making a deal. It just isn’t that easy to get all the parts of a deal put together without mortgaging the future of the club. I’ll be the first to admit that we probably got hosed in the Bartless/Garza trade for Delmon plus, but who’s to say that Garza just wouldn’t have continued to be a head case (like he definitely was) and who could have seen Bartlett flourish in a change of scenery? Perhaps we can salvage something from that trade by making Delmon the centerpiece of a trade for middle infield help along with Casilla and some prospects. Until the Giants announce that they have Sanchez, I’m still holding out hope that we might get him.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/ reporting that freddy sanchez going to giants (after they check out his knee) for no major leaguers…..
Matt
You might as well put on your wish list Hanley Ramirez and Josh Johnson from the Marlins too..
This is not looking good for us especially with the latest news on Slowey and Liriano.. Makes one wonder if we should be buyers or sellers soon because one guy is not gonna do it for us. Now we need at least two or three.
our management messed up both bartlett and garza…….. they can’t stand emotion.
T says:
July 29th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
This is our only shot this year.
Haven’t people such as yourself been saying exactly that for the last…oh…2-3 years?
and how many playoff games have the twins won in the oh last 2-3 years? making a move doesn’t guarantee a better outcome but we have seen no move means no win the last 2-3 yrs.
Speaking of Bert– I was somewhat surprised at his selection to the All-Metrodome team last night. He only pitched as a Twin in the dome 3 1/2 years. In that time- he went 50-48. Compare that to Kevin Tapani who won 75 games in 5 plus seasons or Scott Erickson who won 61 games — including a no hitter and selection to an All Star team in 5 plus seasons.
All three contributed to a World Series win– so that is kind of a wash.
I like Bert alot– but I thought Tapani or Erickson were better choices.
I guess if I want to complain– I should have voted!
To be fair I do not think the Twins had the players to make the trades that have been made today, quit a few good prospects have been moved. I still think the Twins need to go get Jon Garland I watched his start the other night and he is pitching well, he gave up some runs but his defense botch 2 consecutive double play balls with the bases loaded. Even the MLB Tonight guys where saying that he made and has been making the pitches that he needs to make but the feilding is letting him down.
Rick Blaine:
Tapani definately belongs on the All-Dome team. He was the steal of the Viola trade. Everyone dissed the trade because David West didn’t pan out, but getting Tapani and Aggie was a good trade.
matt
If that’s the only options the Twins have they should just stay put. They need a legit SP.
Pirates just gave Snell and WIlson for 1 decent AAAA player and a young shortstop with stats like Punto.How in the HELL can Bill Smith just sit on his lard arse and do nothing??????? Our pitching staff falls apart worse every day and we have NOTHING at 2nd base……..Christ Almighty I want Bill Smiths name in the obituaries tomorrow.
“But no. Only the Twins are morons.”
No, only the Twins have a starting baseman currently batting about .170, as well as a dysfunctional bullpen for the past 2 years. That’s why they would be morons if they don’t make a move, among other reasons.
They’re not going to “buy high” on O Cab, Washburn or anyone else. I still say Kelly Johnson from ATL and then they’ll dig up Odalis Perez, Paul Byrd, whatever else is on the scrap heap.
Hawkins just went on the DL. I don’t think is an option now.
Washburn would be a rental and Boras would jack up his price.
“Sanchez Makes Pirates Offer; Is He Next To Go?
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [July 29 at 2:52pm CST]
2:52pm: Kovacevic hears that the Giants are examining Sanchez within the hour. Is there a deal in place? Kovacevic hears ‘yes’ and ‘no.’
2:46pm: Kovacevic reports that Sanchez made the Pirates a three-year offer.
2:40pm: MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch reports that the Giants and Pirates have a deal in place that would send Sanchez to San Francisco. The Giants will look at the infielder’s knee this afternoon before deciding whether to complete the deal, which wouldn’t send any major leaguers to Pittsburgh.
However, Kovacevic says no deal is in place. “
I miss Slowey.
Although I would dearly love to have a #2 hitter, the Twins are 8th in majors in runs scored, even with huge holes. Going to need some pitching (24th in majors)help to make playoff push
The Twins have nothing to deal. That’s why B. Smith has done nothing. They’re not going to move Valencia or Revere. Would you want any of our garbage for a legitamite player? This franchise will do nothing that could potentially rock the boat before 2010. Nothing but positivity until they get into that new ballpark. That’s how they operate in Twinsville. Keep us just content and interested enough to tune in every night but never reward us with a winner.
You’re a classy guy, Wade.
Jeff Manship is ready for a MLB trial IMO.
If he fails, send him back.
He is a better choice than Duensing and the bullpen needs Dickey.
Giants will be getting Sanchez, in my opinion, within the next few hours. So, let’s update so far:
Need: 2B.
BSmith’s answer: call up Casilla and watch him do the SOS, sign Grudz who has a ton of rust on him. Watch a REAL
I think BS is a genius. He is going to use all the money they save in long distance phone bills to make a big splash at the winter meeting.
Giants will be getting Sanchez, in my opinion, within the next few hours. So, let’s update so far:
Need: 2B.
BSmith’s answer: call up Casilla and watch him do the SOS, sign Grudz who has a ton of rust on him. Watch a REAL wild contender like the Giants get Sanchez and Brewers get Lopez.
Need: SS.
BSmith’s answer: Watch Punto suck like he always does.
Need: Relief pitching.
BSmith’s answer: Bring up crappy Jesse Crain.
I’ll never turn on the Twins, but this crap is getting REALLY OLD!!!
Can we trade Delmon Young to the Pirates for Garrett Jones straight up?
To be fair the Twins did not have the players to make the trades that have been made today, and do not say Punto,Casilla, and Buscher for Snell and Wilson. The Twins are going to have to look a guys like Jon Garland and Doug Davis. I wonder if we could get Adam Kennedy from Oakland to play 2nd base?
Mariners awfully active today. Nice to see a team 7.5 out in the West and 6.5 out in the wild card trying to get better. Right Billy?
t michael, why would you not deal Revere at all? Does not Liriano’s complete lack of good play for the last three years show that making a player untouchable makes no sense?
Players get hurt, they regress, they get better, the get healthy, some do better in other cities, some do worse. No player should be untouchable for the right probable return.
Hey, at least were not Pirate’s fans…
Now, that blog has to be burning up!
Amen Mike WWS, amen.
I agree with Mike, other than Vallencia and only because he is in a position of need unless we resign Crede, I would make all of or minor leaguers available, the problem is we just do not have much talent down on the farm. Now with the pitching injuries we do not have much to trade of the big league roster as well. So for those of you that say Bill Smith is doing nothing, who exactly would you trade for and who would you trade to get them? With a weak farm system you are not going to get many big time players in a trade.
i didn’t say i wouldn’t deal either of those 2, but the organization won’t. i agree 100% with you. there is 1 ‘untouchable’ in the organization however and he wears #33 and has an MVP on his mantle.
It cannot be fun to be an Indian’s fan right about now as well. Look’s like
Kansas City will have someone to compete with them for last place in the Central for awhile.
Giants got Sanchez for “Quote”
No Major league players, they
just wanted to dump his contract
“there is 1 ‘untouchable’ in the organization however and he wears #33 and has an MVP on his mantle”
You wouldn’t trade him for Pujols?
David, the Twins have plenty of players that would appeal to the Pirates - Manship, Revere, Tosoni, Winfree, Gutierrez, Hicks, Tolleson, DeVries, to name a few.
From the reports that have been made - the Giants will be getting Sanchez for 0 major league players.
Also, don’t forget that Bill Smith failed to get Mark DeRosa from the Cubs. Instead Cleveland got him for two average minor leaguers - boy would he look nice hitting in that 2 hole.
thanks t michael, I completely agree that the organization likely has an untouchable list.
And w/o getting way over paid, valencia is likely on that list, as someone said.
LIriano scratched. Duensing to start.
Matt is right, we screwed the pooch by not trying to get DeRosa.
Any thought of getting Teahan? He was a tradeable commodity earlier in season and can play all over.
“there is 1 ‘untouchable’ in the organization however and he wears #33 and has an MVP on his mantle”
You wouldn’t trade him for Pujols?
I would!
Fredo - where did you hear that?
Duensing has not pitched very well at all this year. Hopefully this start won’t destroy what little trade value he had if any. It just goes to show everyone how poor our pitching depth is in AAA. I hope I am wrong and the kid pitches a great game tonight so we can sweep those guys..
Dear Lord, how many bad trades can the Pirates make! Even Buffet Bill ought to be able to take advantage of these
Are you the Twins apologist on this blog?
No. But that doesn’t stop people from going to that well.
t michael
do you think the M’s did this for this year? Doubtful?! They gain an MLB ready pitcher to help offset the lose of Washburn, and Bedard at the end of the season, and gain one of the best defensive shortstops for this year and they can pick up his team freindly option for next year if they like. This move has some short term benfits but was more abotu improving the club for next year.
One of the players dealt for De Rosa has played with the Cubs this season. Jeff Stevens has a 2.68 ERA in five appearances for the Cubs.
LEN 3 & all,
Any chance the deal the Pirates and Seattle made is just the first step towards the M’s turning around and trading either Wilson or Snell or Washburn of any combination of the three to the Twins now?
And the news about Frankie only adds another mark against Billy wait until the last possible second and hope to get it cheap or not at all philosophy. Trade him a week or so ago and this is someone else’s problem. The longer you wait the more the risk of a deal falling thru goes up.
Bob,
I’ve seen a couple of places that seem to really like the Pirates end of the Seattle deal.
Seem’s they(Pirates) are eating Wilson’s & Snell’s salary to get better prospects.
Regards,
Matt if you havent noticed Pittsburg is loaded with outfielders and just got a SS,C/1B and 3 pitchers for Snell and Wilson and if the Giants really want Sanchez fro Pittsburg all they have to do is offer Kevin Pocetas (10-2 at AAA) or even Jonathan Sanchez straight up if they wanted him bad enough, we do not have those type of players to trade, we can trade quantity but not as much quality.
Brent.. agree.. As for you SY, i’d say Pujols is untouchable as well. Unless you deal Morneau and Mauer for him. By the way, i keep waiting for the Giants to fade, are they going too?? Pitching is so strong but their line-up is awful.
“One of the players dealt for De Rosa has played with the Cubs this season. Jeff Stevens has a 2.68 ERA in five appearances for the Cubs.”
Bobby Keppel has a 3.20 ERA in 11 appearances.
I have the Twins by 3 now.
I should have said that Stevens has a 2.68 ERA in five relief appearances.
Time is ticking and I’m wondering if BS isn’t talking with Toronto to work out something for Scutaro - I would really like to see him come here. I know we need pitchers (starter/bullpen) but I think there’s such a glaring hole in the middle infield and power wise that it would be near the top of the list of things to do TODAY! Come on, Billy, pull the trigger on this.
Hard to say what’ll happen still. I’ve been a mild observer during the deadline thus far. BUT, I sure didn’t see Seattle as a team coming out to get Wilson and Snell.
Package Morales, Swarzak, and another low level prospect in return for Sanchez and someone from their pen, or a AAA relief prospect or two.
How Terry Ryan ever got San Fran to deal us Nathan, Liriano, and Bonser for AJ still blows my mind.
Stevens was part of the deal that sent DeRosa TO Cleveland, not from Cleveland to St. Louis. Chris Perez was best prospect in DeRosa going to Indians and he is/was a mediocre prospect.
We should trade for Livian Hernandez from the Mets. He is doing a lot better than Liriano. But everybody said Liriano was great? Wrong.
Sorry guys, but Joe Mauer is walking after this season. No MN nice here! No home town discount either. But this guys deserves to play on a team with the kind of players that can sustain and support each other as the season moves on. I expect it to happen and so should all of you. He will not sign here if this team can’t find better talent! A multi year contract on a team that can only flirt with playing at 500 ball. Who is kidding who here? Trading deadline is tomorrow night and have the Twins done anything yet? Do any of you people really believe BS is going to pull something, hell no! So get use to it cause the Twins will say we want Joe back in the off season, but with lack of money and working on a strict budget thats never going to happen and I mean never…..
Nate, we can’t deal Swarzak. First he isn’t that big of preospect and second he’s now our 4th starter. Morales on the other hand…
Nate:
I don’t think you can lose Swarzak right now. We have one starter on the DL and another who was scratched because of a sore arm.
One more reason why we should not trade anybody is that a good team is better than the sum of its parts. Look at the Phillies. Put them on other teams, and they’re just parts. The Twins are just now starting to gel as a team. A team that will fight for one another is better than a collection of parts.
The Twins farm system is so good that any one of our prospects should be worth at least two prospects from another system.
Let’s say the Pirates will trade Freddy Sanchez for Danny Valencia. No deal. If they want Valencia, we’ll take Sanchez, Garrett Jones, plus a pitching prospect from their farm system. Otherwise, deal’s off.
Our farm products are so good, we need to get full value for them.
Nate we can not afford to deal Swarzak, with Slowey out and Liriano hurt and Perkins 1 bad outing from saying his Left arm fell off on the way to the park that day and he taped it back on and thought it was good to go for his start.
Mark:
You mean “next season”, right?
Let’s talk about fantasy baseball for a second. In fantasy baseball, you just have a collection of parts. There is no team chemistry factor that goes into who wins.
In real baseball, you have team chemistry. In fantasy baseball, you don’t. This is real.
How can all of these teams be trading minor leaugers for talent that will produce now but not the twins. We should have built a new stadium for the vikes and ship b smith out with the entire front office with our 500 team.
If Crede can’t go ,bring up Valencia now.
Get a second baseman that can get on base when up.
In real baseball, you have team chemistry. In fantasy baseball, you don’t.
Are you saying the Twins play fantasy baseball?
Nate, they can’t trade Swarzak for he has replaced Slowey in the rotation and actually looks like the best starter right now. morales will replace Remond next year, so he has to stay. Surely someone would take Young of their hands
Mauer Power,
With respect to your 3:54 post, have you been drinking this afternoon? If so then I understand it. If not you have 0 sense of the current Twins team nor their minor league prospects. If they were that good they’d be up with the big club right now because the team is dying on the vine waiting for help.
If the Twins can unload players like Tommy Watkins, Matt Macri, Jason Pridie, and Brian Buscher they should do so. These guys have no chance of being Twins regulars. They are only roster-fillers in AAA (and the Twins), blocking other players chances to get playing time and improve.
Why does Gardy hate Harris? He is by far our most productive MI and he isn’t terrible in the field. He had a clutch hit last night.
Someone posted we could get Sanchez and Garrett Jones. We already had him…lol
In reality I thought give Bill Smith time. But he should be fired. The reason the Twins can still compete? Mauer - Morneau - Kubel. Imagine if Bill Smith didn’t decide to trade away the best young pitcher the Twins had (Garza) and a future All-Star shortstop (Bartlett) for a slightly below average shortstop (Harris) and possibly the worst outfielder in the major leagues (Young). Then imagine if the Twins took the Yankees offer for Phil Hughes and Melky Cabrera instead of for the best defensive outfielder in the game and garbage.
Then lets say Bill Smith actually made one really good trade. Last offseason the Giants were trying to trade Matt Cain. How about if the Twins had traded Liriano, Casilla (when he had upside) Perkins and a B level prospect for Matt Cain… AND Pablo Sandoval. Or Kung-Fu Panda. He wasn’t a top prospect but he had started to put up big numbers in AAA ball. So lets look at the lineup -
Denard Span - CF (Above Average Hitter & Fielder) Jason Bartlett - SS (Above Average Hitter & Fielder) Joe Mauer - C/DH (Awesome) Justin Morneau - 1B (Awesome) Jason Kubel - DH/LF (Above Average Hitter) Michael Cuddyer - RF (Slightly Above Average Hitter) Pablo Sandoval - 3B/DH/1B (Above Average Hitter & Can play 3B, C & 1B all not really well) Melky Cabrera - LF (Average Hitter & Fielder) Nick Punto - 2B, 3B(Average Fielder, Worst everyday hitter in the majors)
Besides Punto that’s a pretty good lineup and flexible. If they signed Scott Posednek as an extra outfielder and thrown in Redmend, Tolbert & Buscher as reserves and well you have a top lineup.
Maybe you are worried about cash? Nah it’s a cheap lineup. If Bill Smith was even more intelligent than this he would have dropped Punto AND HIS 4.2 MILLION SALARY FOR TWO YEARS and signed Orlando Hudson to a 1 year deal like he got with the Dodgers plenty of Money. Bartlett makes 1.9 million and Sandoval makes the minimum. Cabrera not much more but they are all huge additions to the team. Could have easily happened.
Look at the pitching staff -
Matt Garza (Above Average) Matt Cain (Above Average) Scott Baker (Above Average) Phil Hughes (Potential) Blackburn (Average). Then you have Slowey who got hurt and Swarzak to back them up.
Instead of signing Luis Ayala to a million dollar deal maybe they could have spent a little real money. The Twins payroll is 24th in the majors! That’s pathetic for a team getting a new stadium with a shot at the Division ever year. The Twins draw 28,000+ this year. That’s more than all other teams in the division except Detroit. The Twins should have signed Jeremy Affeldt 2yrs 4.5 would have got it done. Nathan (Awesome) Guerrier (Above Average) Affeldt (Above Average) Mijares (Above Average) Dickey (Below Average). For the other two guys I’d have already brought Robert Delaney and Anthony Slama up from the minors. Slama is 25y/o and is in AA! The guy is ready for the Majors as well as Delaney. They actually have stuff. Have them as the 6th and 7th guys in the pen. So the 6-7th innings in non-crucial situations.
How about if the Twins had traded Liriano, Casilla (when he had upside) Perkins and a B level prospect for Matt Cain…
How about if Bill Smith had had a crystal ball so he could have known all the players that were going to stink/get injured this year?
Actually, Mauer Power, the Twins’ farm system is quite bad these days. The fact that almost all of the Twins’ top prospects are at A ball or below makes trading make even more sense. There’s no well to go to anymore, except maybe at third base.
Matt Garza (7-7) has only won four more games this year than Anthony Swarzak (3-3).
What about bringing back Christian Guzman? He is hitting .302 as the Nationals leadoff, and his glove is better than Harris. Move Span to the 2 spot, or put Guzman in the #2 spot.
