Minnesota Twins Talk

Minnesota Twins prospect and frequent TwinsDaily.com contributor A.J. Pettersen has penned his first BaseballAmerica.com article. We highly recommend you check it out: http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/players-perspective/2012/2614379.html

Jeff Passan from Yahoo Sports is reporting that the Royals are shopping Bruce Chen and Luke Hochevar. Chen makes $4.5M last year and posted a 5.07 ERA but threw 191 inning. Hochevar had a 5.73 ERA and threw 185 innings, but is just 29 years old and a former #1 overall pick. He'll likely cost about $5M but had a 7.0 K/9. Home runs killed him. I can see the Twins looking at the salaries being thrown around here and nibbling at these guys. It seems like they've always been impressed by Chen.

According to ESPN.com's Jayson Stark, one team interested in Joe Mauer was told by the Twins organization that:

According to MLB Trade Rumors, the Angels have claimed infielder Thomas Field off waivers, from the Twins. One less guy on the 40-man roster.

Why do I get the feeling that the opening day roster is going to look like this: SP: Diamond, Pavano, Liriano, Hendricks, and Joe Saunders RP: Perkins, Burton, Fien, Burnett, Swarzak, Deunsing, Robertson, Roeneke Lineup: Span CF, Revere RF, Mauer C, Willingham LF, Morneau 1B, Doumit DH, Plouffe 3B, Dozier 2B, Floriman SS Bench: Caroll, Mastroianni, Herrmann, Parmelee

Not that I want to encourage a new thread for every player that becomes available, but I do think that Chone Figgins is interesting. The Mariners DFAd him and will own him $8 million for the season. No one is going to pick that up, so he should become a free agent. At that point, should the Twins be interested in signing him at league minimum. He earned the big contract with many good years with the Angels. He was a mid-600s OPS in his first year in Seattle, and he's been terrible the last two years. So, if he could even post those mid-600 OPS as a utility infielder, would that be worth it. At 34, does he have the ability or upside yet to have one more good year? Can he…

The Cubs just gave Scott Feldman, a back end of the rotation/swingman, a $6 million base salary plus incentives. The Cubs certainly seem to be setting the market for low-end starting pitching options with this signing and the generous deal they gave to Scott Baker. I'd guess moves like this indicate there will be little to no starting pitching bargain shopping this holiday season, even to get a guy who should profile to be a number five starter, Terry Ryan is still going to have to overpay. I sure hope he has a few deals in the works for young controlable starters because I'm going to be pretty disappointed if the Twins walk away from this offseason having to overpa…

by Angels.....now 39 on 40 man roster favorite moment of his era??

According to MLB Trade Rumors, the Angels have claimed Thomas Field, the shortstop that the Twins claimed from Colorado earlier this month. No surprise. In fact, I kind of expected it to happen sooner. The move puts the Twins 40 man roster at 39 heading into the Winter Meetings.

Mark Bowman of MLB.com and Jerry Crasnick of ESPN are reporting that the Braves and Upton are close to a deal. This would be another blow to the Twins offseason plans of rebuilding the rotation as moving Denard Span to Atlanta for some of their young talented (cheap) pitching seemed like a perfect fit. Certainly there are other places Span can be moved to, but taking Atlanta off the table is a big setback. Atlanta may still have interest in another outfielder even if they do sign Upton, but they'd likely be looking for a corner outfielder with a different offensive skill set, namely Josh Willingham.

Aaron and I talked a little bit about Ryan's comments about finding some competition for Trevor Plouffe in our last podcast. In his latest scoops, Doogie takes it further than I did, sounding more like Aaron.... That would seem to contradict what Ryan said in his 2013 Offseason Handbook interview: I won't believe they'll sign anyone to replace Plouffe until I see it. I could see them adding a left-handed option. (St. Paul's Jack Hannahan?) But of the problems the Twins needs to address, this needs to be towards the bottom of the list.

Earlier today, Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz was suspended for 25 games in a violation of the league's performance-enhancing drug policy. In a phone interview, General Manager Ruben Amaro said that he doesn't think that the suspension will prevent future negotiations on a contract extension, according to Matt Gelb and Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Amaro also said that the club may look at other catching options, but it won't be a frontline piece. We learned earlier tonight that the Phillies signed Humberto Quintero to a minor league pact, but the deal was apparently reached before the news on Ruiz was known. Read more at http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/#uX…

http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/The_Scoops_David_Kahn_talked_Brandon_Roy_out_of_retirement_for_now112812 I'm sure he is one of many starting pitchers that the Twins are talking to, but I would welcome him back with open arms. Don't talk to me about 2012 - he was hurt and the whole things was terribly mismanaged. To me, 220+ innings in 2010 & 2011 with a 4ish ERA speaks louder. Plus, he'll likely be cheap ($4m?) due to last year's cluster. (Tangent: Ironically, maybe the Twins medical staff will save the Twins some money this time. It could be a new strategy. Destroy a guy's value through mismanagement of his medical and then re-sign him at half the price. I…

They were repeatedly told it was not going to happen. Should it?

Here's my look at the Twins signing of Jeff Clement. Link: http://www.rantsports.com/mlb/2012/11/26/mlb-news-the-minnesota-twins-sign-jeff-clement-to-a-minor-league-deal/ Certainly not an exciting move, but it feels like Clement's last chance to prove he's more than a "Four-A" player.

MLB Trade Rumors writes that the Royals are dangling Wil Myers to try and aquire James Shields or Jon Lester. Could using Parmelee generate the same sort of interest? Literally they're in the same league/ballpark, but maybe not figuratively when it comes to trade value. Parmelee is 3 yrs older than Myers, but Parmelee's 2012 numbers at AAA are superior. What if the Twins threw in a CF prospect not named Buxton or Hicks?

With our Twins not making any significant moves yet, along with my increased impatience, I decided to take another shot at an offseason blueprint. Transactions: Trade Denard Span, Jamey Carroll and $2 million cash for Tony Cingrani and Didi Gregorius Sign Anibal Sanchez to a five year, $75 million contract. Includes a sixth year club option of $15 million with a $5 million buyout. Sign Brandon McCarthy to a two year, $22 million contract. Includes a third year vesting option of $14 million. The option vests if McCarthy pitches 320 innings over the first 2 seasons. The Roster (with salaries): Starting Lineup: CF Ben Revere Min C Joe Mauer $23M LF Josh Will…

I think I just read the Dodgers annual tv revenue will grow from $40MM per year, to $280MM per year. There is no way the Twins, or most of baseball, can compete with that revenue imbalance. Do you think this is a threat to the game?

According to MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger reports that the Twins have signed catcher Jeff Clement, a former Baseball America's Top 50 prospect, to a minor league deal. Clement, 28, never gained any traction at the major league level with Seattle and was later traded to Pittsburgh in 2009 for Ian Snell and Jack Wilson. In the International League last year, Clement hit 16 home runs and 35 doubles (second most in the league) but like a true swing big, miss big type of hitter, he also struck out in 101 at-bats (22% of plate appearances). Clement was a Twins former 12th round draft pick in 2002 out of his Marshalltown, Iowa high school but chose to attend USC instead.

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/11/26/evan-longoria-signs-six-year-100-million-extension-with-rays/ The Rays are frequently celebrate as one of the smarter front offices in baseball, and their early long term deal for Longoria (pretty much immediately after his call-up) is often cited as one of the more team-friendly deals in baseball for a "star" player. They had him under team control through 2016 with team options that topped out at $11.5 million per year. Low enough to be a significant value for a franchise player, but not so low that said player would feel "cheated", especially if he misses significant injury time from an assortment of nagging injuries (an…

Story link: http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/180652261.html?refer=y Brett Myers is an interesting idea, though I'm sure his lack of overpowering speed and mediocre (to be kind) strikeout rates will fail to excite most Twins fans. If Myers would turn out to be the "biggest" addition to the rotation that Terry Ryan can come up with, I would be less than thrilled, as well, but let's be honest... the Twins are not going to be high on the list of teams for most top free agent pitchers. Teams that have lost as many games as the Twins have lately often have to settle for pitchers who are trying to re-establish themselves and with Myers trying to find a team that will gi…

Here is his idea from an atricle on ESPN (http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/30979/five-blockbuster-trade-suggestions)\ Reds trade CF Billy Hamilton, C Devin Mescaro, RHP Mike Leake, RHP Sam Lecre and RHP Daniel Corcino to the Twins for CF Denard Span , LFJosh Willingham, IF Jamey Carrol and IF Daniel Santana. Thoughts?

Inspired by Seth Stohs' invitation, I'd like to hear some Twins Daily member input on a question some of my friends and I've kicked around in the last couple weeks: If Justin Morneau's contract had expired this year and he was a Free Agent right now, what sort of a contract do you believe he would land? The Offseason Handbook does a good job establishing potential first basemen contracts for this year's crop of free agents, but I'll just note the bigger names on the market are this year: Adam LaRoche, Mark Reynolds, Lance Berkman, and Carlos Lee lead the pack. And I'd like to think this exercise isn't completely academic, as determining Morneau's value this offseason …

If we're going to have a Twins Turkey of the Year forum, you know I'm going to also be posting a forum where you can either give some thanks to the Twins, or post a couple of the Twins-related things that you are thankful for. Could be Target Field, or the helmet-sized nachos. Could be a player or two. But again, be sure to explain your answers.

As the Twins watch the Tigers and Royals commit multiyear contracts to decline phase players, the Twins have an opportunity to play the other end. Guthrie will be 34 with dropping K rates. The Royals will be lucky to get one good year. His signing is great news for the Twins. The Tigers signing of Hunter is also great news. I would bet the Twins get better production out of Hicks or Arcia in 2014 at 13 million less. Why not take the opportunity to get younger this year? The Twins should not join others in making these commitments. Instead they should go the opposite direction. They should trade aging veteran assets for pitching or middle infield prospects. If gi…

Considering the Twins tendency to go after items on the scrap heap, do any of these potential non-tender candidates interest anyone if they hit the open market (basically looking at starting pitchers or infielders): Starting Pitchers (including ages during 2013): Dallas Braden (29), Luke Hochevar (29), Tommy Hunter (26-27), Jair Jurrjens (27), John Lannan (28), Kyle McClellen (28-29), Mike Pelfrey (29), Kevin Slowey (29), Chris Volstad (26) Infielders: Emmanuel Burris (28), Jack Hannahan (33), Sean Rodriguez (28), Ian Stewart (28), Luis Valbuena (26)

Over at the Star Tribune, Patrick Reusse handed out his annual Turkey of the Year awards. A couple of Twins-related people were mentioned as nominees. So, I ask you today... name you nominees for Twins Turkeys of 2012. Not just the names, but provide thoughtful reasoning.

The Red Sox have designated Danny Valencia for assignment.

I see Seattle has cut him loose - should we be interstested in bringing him in to play second base. I say its a no lose situation if we can get him on the cheap - maybe a change of scenary will help him recapture some of the magic he had while with the Angels. If he can bat .270 and play good defense he would be a good fit for the 9 hole.

Does anyone have any news on the second relief pitcher the Twins signed from the Pirates? Is he a hard thrower or what does he/can he throw? Nothing like taking the AAA & AA closers from the Pirates to try to fix a poor system. You never know Tim Wood and Tom Boleska seem to both have decent K/BB rates as closers. [h=1][/h]