Minnesota Twins Talk

I know it's unrealistic in a lot of ways, but does anyone else but me see Tim Lincecum as a possible trade target for the Twins? It occurs to me the Giants may need an outfielder like Denard Span, even if they win the World Series with Gregor Blanco and Angel Pagan manning left and center frequently. That also assumes the rumors the Giants will make him available are true, but I also don't see there being a ton of potential trade partners since he's due $22 million next year.

like Fister was last night?

According to KSTP and 1500espn's Darren "Doogie" Wolfson, the firings at One Twins Way are not being limited to on-field personnel. I would think this would be surprising as the Twins have had some terrific marketing efforts for years.

Per the Fort Myers News-Press http://www.news-press.com/article/20121026/NEWS01/121026008/Details-45-million-plan-keep-Minnesota-Twins-released-today

This is my early wants for the Twins 2013 opening roster. I would trade Span/Carroll/minor leaguer for Castro. He hasn’t played the best defense yet in his very early 20’s but with maturity I believe he will vastly improve this part of his game. His offense is undeniable. He would solidify the SS position for the Twins which they gravely need. With Span gone, Revere would move to center and the lead of spot. I believe that Dozier is better than we saw last season. I would give him the starting 2B job and hope he runs with it. The rest of the lineup is fairly obvious. Parmelee would become the everyday right fielder and Josh Willingham would stay in left field. The corner…

Obviously, this isn't big news, but it does bring us one step closer to the inevitable re-signing of Matt Capps..... http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/blogs/175660561.html

I am a Twins fan but live down here in Texas Rangers land - and they are listing their primary needs for the offseason as 1B & Catcher. Which started me thinking about the hypothetical would the Twins consider packaging Mauer & Morneau to the Rangers. The Rangers are shooting for the World Series and would love to add 2 veteran left-handed hitters. They have Josh Hamilton likely coming off the books so they have some salary $ availability. Question from the Twins perspective would be first - would we be willing to trade 2 of our stars (not very likely) and if so what would we ask in return. For starters, we would want either Mike Olt (3B) or Elvis Andrus (SS) and …

Twins outright Manship, Perdomo, Vasquez, Waldrop, Walters and Carson. Capps option not picked up. Carlos Gutierrez claimed off waivers by Cubs. Looks like TR waited until he saw Seth's write-up in the Off Season Handbook on 40-man roster decisions before making their cuts!

1500ESPN.com's Darren Wolfson tweeted sources told him re-signing the recovering Scott Baker is a "high priority" for the team.

On his 25th Birthday, Kyle Gibson wins. 3 IP; 2 BB; 3 K; 3 H; 0 R. His ERA now stands at 0.69. It's certainly encouraging. Not as good as previous 2 games, but at least no runs.

According to Carrie Muskat, the mlb.com beat writer for the Cubs, mentioned on Twitter that former Twins OF/DH /PH Randy Bush received a 3-year contract extension to remain the Cubs' Assistant General Manager.

For our Offseason Handbook, I'm conducting an interview with Terry Ryan on Friday, right after he gets back from the organizational meetings. I'm gathering a list of topics and questions to prepare. If you have something you would like to know, submit it below. I can't guaranteed I'll ask it, or any of them, but it'll be on my radar as we talk through things.

Are we really going to go through 5 months of pulling random names and trade ideas out of our asses? I don't even want to read on topic like that. Baseball is so difficult to guess on. Once FA opens and things start to happen I can understand it. But man, this is going to be a long winter if this continues.

Twins' prospect Kyle Gibson turned in an impressive performance in his Arizona Fall League debut, to help Peoria blank Phoenix 6-0 on Thursday. Gibson pitched five innings and allowed four hits, while striking out eight and walking none. Fellow Twins' prospects Michael Tonkin, Logan Darnell and Caleb Thielbar pitched four innings of scoreless relief for the Javelinas, to preserve the shutout. Twins' outfield prospect Nate Roberts had a big day offensively for the Javelinas. He collected two hits, walked, stole a base, drove in a run and scored a run.

I have always thought that Jeff Manship has great potential. He made some excellent starts back in late 2009. But then something happened. The Twins decided he was going to be their new Matt Guerrier. For some reason Jeff never took to being a reliever. Might have something to do with not being able to warm up properly, or maybe it's mental that he wants to know when he pitches, or maybe he needs to pitch 5 plus innings every 5 days to stay proficient. Whatever it is, Jeff seems to have very good numbers as a starter, not so much as a reliever. I'd be interested to see what his AAA numbers were in 2012 as a reliever versus as a starter. I'd also like to see his…

I know from our recent poll that the $6.95 initial price isn't onerous to most of our readers, but I also know that the last thing we want to do is exclude any offseason junkies because times are a little tough. So let's do it this way.... 1) I assume people might be hesitant to ask for this publicly, so if you want a TwinsCentric Offseason Handbook, but feel like you can't afford it, EMAIL ME (not message me through the system) at John at Bonnes dottt com. Since we only have five to giveaway, please only do so if you feel like you otherwise cannot afford it. Also, please include your Twins Daily username. 2) If anyone wants to make a similar pledge to purchase as Ano…

1500ESPN's Phil Mackey has information coming out of the Twins' organizational meetings: (click here) Twins want up to 3 starting pitchers, with nobody but Diamond currently penciled in to the rotation. Only Joe Mauer is considered unavailable for possible trades, Hendriks and Plouffe are not assured spots if they don't improve, and... oh... yeah... the Front Office is embarassed about the last two seasons. Yeah... Welcome to the club, gentlemen.

With Mike Aviles going to the Blue Jays as part of the Ferrell deal, it probably makes Escobar available. (Although first indications are for Aviles to play 2B or UT.) Knowing his history, is Escobar enough of an upgrade for the Twins to inquire?

http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/Tom_Brunansky_Bobby_Cuellar_Terry_Steinbach_added_to_Twins_staff102212 Brunansky to hitting coach, Cuellar to bullpen coach and Steinbach named bench coach/catching instructor. Ullger named 1st base coach and Vavra named 3B coach.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/blogs/174766401.html The STrib's Michael Rand asked whether the Twins should consider a deal for Alex Rodriguez. Of course, he's not coming here, we all know that. But should the Twins consider it. Rand says, what if the Yankees picked up enough to make the Twins pay just $50 million (of the $114 million he's owed) over the next 5 years. If not, what would it take? I mean, if the Yankees paid $100 million, and the Twins just needed to pay him 5 years and $14 million, would you? A-Rod's worst season (this year), he still had an OPS higher than Trevor Plouffe's this year. But he's 37, 11 years older than Plouffe. What do you think?

OK so now we know the kid is opting for the MLB. So things brings a couple questions... I'm assuming most teams have spent most or all of thier $2.9 million allotment for international players. So will he wait until July next year when teams allotments get reset? Also, as I understand it, starting next year every team's bonus allotment will vary from team to team. I suppose the Twins will get the 4th highest amount to spend as they had the 4th worst record this year. Anyone know when the dollar amounts will be announced if they haven't already? The Twins are one of several teams that have scouted Otani.

John Sickels has a preview of comments on these two at his site. http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/10/21/3531192/baxendale-and-berrios-two-intriguing-twins-pitchers-from-the-2012 Sounds encouraging.

I thought this was an extremely insightful piece by Len Kasper, the Chicago Cubs play-by-play man, on Baseball Prospectus today that is a must-read. Kasper detailed how quickly the mainstream broadcast aspect of the game exploded from awaiting annuals from Bill James and Baseball Prospectus in 2002 to the instantaneous nature of analysis available today thanks to the proliferation of websites like Fangraphs.com and Twitter (which, shameless plug, you can follow me a Twitter for some of that type of analysis) which pumps out up-to-the-second breakdowns and decisions. Internally, too, Kasper has witnessed a change in the culture: However, while there are small step…

Joe Christensen passes along the message from Twins President Dave St. Peter that the team will not re-install trees in center field nor change the dimensions of the stadium, much like the Seattle Mariners are planning on doing in Safeco for 2013. With the addition of Josh Willingham, we've seen what kind of player is necessary in order to have a true home run hitter on the Twins: someone who pulls the ball regularly with authority, to left field. Right-center field however, while it did relinquish more home runs this year than years past, is still a death valley for fly balls. If any area of the ball park needed some rearranging, it would be in that area. Frankly, I'm …

TRyan said this on 1500ESPN this morning but will 'monitor the big names'. No surprise here, so who are the affordable pitchers that the Twins type thinking will go after. Pitt's FA Kevin Correia WILL be one they will at least pursue 32 yr old RH made 3m last yr Over last 4 yrs (w/SD & Pitt each 2yrs) 46W (Twins value the old style stats) 43L 120gms 113starts 668IP (ave 168) 697hits 4.51 NL ERA 423k(5.7/9) 213bb(2.9/9) 90.5mph FB... -.0.7 3 yr WAR one all star appearance in 2011 Holds runners well 31/53 successful (41.5% caught stealing) Twins type of guy......yaaaaayyyyy!!!!! Who else laugh all ya want but they will also target Kevin Millwood as this yrs Marqui…

Last winter, the Tigers added Prince Fielder for the royal sum of 9-years, $214 million. While it may have been a steep price to pay, it clearly helped launch Detroit to a World Series bid. Now, the Twins lack the Justin Verlanders or even Max Scherzers to give it a truly "on-the-cusp" team like the Tigers were at the end of 2011, however, if you were to sign one player this off-season -- cost/contract not an issue a la Prince Fielder -- who would you sign as the player who could tilt this team towards a title and why?

Snippy responses aside, some of us are a bit bored with the content these days. So as an attempt to appease Smerf (yearn....ravage....you know the bit), let's talk about a few of the prospects it is realistic that we might see this year. I guess I'm curious what people expect as far as when we should see them and what we can expect from them. The Twins are notorious for getting immediate, sometimes surprising, production from young players they call up: Kyle Gibson: We've already heard about his innings limit, but the guy is battling his tail off on the mound this fall. Most people have written him off as an ace before injury, but what if his velocity maintains thi…

Just realized he might be the perfect guy to bring in on a one year deal, he plays 3B and hits left handed, perhaps he could be insurance/platoon partner for Plouffe against tough righties? I'd have to imagine he would cost less than Jamey Caroll to bring in. Then again, if he ends up with a good night tonight I could see the Yankees keeping him around as A-Rod insurance next year. Maybe 1 year, 1.5-2 mil? He doesn't solve the MI issues obviously, but does give us some nice insurance at 3B and a solid bat off the bench.

Now that this season is over, I think that this is a good time to thank the founders and administrators of this website and everyone who has written articles and blogs. This was a tough season for us fans, but TD has made it a lot more bearable for me. I am very grateful for all of the hard work of those who have brightened my day every day, and I look forward to next season knowing that I am part of a group that includes some very talented, knowledgeable writers who will help make sense of whatever may happen.

Would you think about bringing him back on a 1 year, 2-3 mil (+incentives) deal?