Minnesota Twins Talk

Is on waivers... But continue to have no hope... lol

http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/Mackey_Twins_GM_Terry_Ryan_not_banking_on_free_agency_this_winter073112 Phil Mackey quotes Terry Ryan, examines the payroll commitments and concludes....

Going into this deadline, we kind of gave Span a pass for the past two seasons where he's been a pretty mediocre player, posting a 1.2 WAR in 2010 and a 2.3 WAR in last year's injury-plagued season. this season, he's already sitting at a 3.2 WAR with an OPS over .060 higher than he's posted since his very good 2009 campaign. It's not surprising that other teams were a little hesitant to meet the (reportedly) high asking price set by Ryan. I also don't blame Ryan for not lowering that price. Span looks to be on the rebound and if he continues his current pace through the end of the season, he should easily match the career high WAR of 4.2 he posted in 2008. Span is stil…

http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/164351676.html Something many of us have been complaining about the Twins doing for years. Selling low, buying high and not realizing when the moment was right.

Choice comments from AJ on Blackie http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2012/08/aj_pierzynski_calls_nick_blackburn_a_piece_of_****_video.php

Prediction thread: My guess: 4 IP 6 H 6 ER 2 HR 4BB 4K Mauer will get on base every time he faces him. Willingham will hit a HR

In the last few minutes before the trade deadline, the Texas Rangers have acquired Ryan Dempster from the Cubs, but it hasn't been announced for whom yet.

Twins, Astros and Cubs... three of the weakest teams the last two years. While the Cubs and Astros dismantle, the Twins have retained their better assets for 2103. With the dismantle the Cubs and Astros stock farm systems with hopes for the long term, the Twins moves (or lack) show they are planning to contend (stronger than compete) in 2013. Why else retain Willingham who will almost certainly decline by 2014? Why else sign Doumit and slow the development of Parmelee and Hermann? Doumit is likely the better player next year but I doubt beyond. Why else demand so much for Span? Why else retain Perkins and Burton when relievers were in some demand? Why…

The Cubs are sitting on beacoup overpriced trading chips, but they still scored a nice mini-coup in acquiring Arodys Vizcaino and Jaye Chapman for Reed Johnson and Paul Maholm. Back in the spring, I had advocated for the Twins signing Maholm on the cheap and short-term as a reliable back-end SP option, with the possibility of moving him for a prospect at the trading deadline. Maholm has had a terrific year in a hitter-friendly park, enough so that the historically pitching-savvy Braves management opted to send their #2 prospect, 20-year-old Vizcaino, and high-MiL-K-rate, 23-year-old RP Chapman to the Cubs, along with journeyman OF Johnson. That begs the question of wha…

Is anyone else tired of this term (Pitch to Contact) being used to describe bad pitching or used to negatively describe pitchers with a low k rate? Good pitching does not necessarily mean a high strike out ratio or the ability to blaze a fastball like Kenny Powers. I think we all agree the Twins are lacking in good starting pitching right now and I don't think there is a Pitch to Contact conspiracy to blame for it. Just a bunch of starters (Baker, Blackburn, Slowey, Perkins, Liriano) who didn't end up being as good as Twins Mgmt and many fans (me included) thought they would be. Sorry about the rant.

I guess that is that! I don't need to hit reload anymore!

According to Yahoo!Sports' Tim Brown, the Rangers are inquiring about Twins reliever Jared Burton. While I like the idea of keeping Burton around, particularly because he is cheap and has been very good, if you are able to turn him into a future starting position player, you have to make that deal.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/scott-miller/19695766/sources-reds-talking-denard-span-with-twins

Can teams work on non-waiver trades after the deadline, or do they have to announce the trade to get an extension past the deadline on talks?

About a half-hour to go before the deadline and ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick tweets that he confirms that the Reds feel that the trade for Denard Span is "not likely" happening. This comes on the heels of the Star Tribune's Joe Christensen reporting that a Twins official relayed that the team did not feel any pressure to trade Span at the deadline.

According to Ken Rosenthal. (Link) I said back in the beginning of July that I expected Span to be gone by the deadline and I still feel that way, even though there hasn't been a whole lot of trade buzz surrounding him up until this point. Sounds like the Reds are more interested in a short-term fix but they may eventually decide that Span's multi-year contract offers more appeal. Seth highlighted a few Reds prospects that might interest the Twins in his trade target team profile a few weeks ago.

Could we do all right trading morneau after the deadline with teams not wanting to take on his contract through waivers?

I've been trying to figure out a good way of saying this but I haven't been able to order my thoughts well and now I have run out of time. Please don't get caught up in the little details of my post but instead look at what my main point is; I feel like my whole point is on the tip of my brain but I just can't get it out for what it's worth. For anyone who feels they understand my point and can better elucidate it, please do. Liriano's performance tomorrow might be one for the ages. He might throw a no-no. He might pitch 1 inning and allow 7 ER. He could go undefeated in his starts from now until September or be pulled from the rotation entirely. While any o…

ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick reports that the interest in Twins reliever Glen Perkins is very high. The caveat is, of course, that Perkins is signed to a long-term deal ($10.3 million through 2015 with an option for 2016) and that the Twins would need to be "overwhelmed" by an offer to trade him.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/164351676.html One revalation I found interesting is that the Twins explored trading him after 2010 (which was when there was also so much contract extension talk).

So who has this right the Twins or the Sox? Chicago has alot of young arms in the majors now that would most likely would be at AA if they were lucky if the pitched for the Twins. It just makes you wonder if Chicago has better scouts than Minnesota with all the young players they have produced in the last couple of years compared to MN. Too bad we will never have any players fast tracked to help out.

According to Brad Nicholson-Smith, who I am assuming is with MLBTR, The Blue Jays have traded Travis Snider for Brad Lincoln. If this were Glen Perkins being traded for Travis Snider, would that be a good trade or a not so good trade? Just wanted to get some TD feedback on this - although a tough decision, I think I would do it. For a young man Travis Snider has fallen out of favor with the Blue Jays fairly quickly... is he a tough nut to crack, does he not fit into their philosophy, or is his position an organizational strength? Thoughts?

Upside? How would you measure it? Sometimes it is an obviously toolsy guy who isn't performing well. Sometimes it is a guy that is young for his age at a level. What about Escobar and Hernandez? Escobar is the youngest position player on the Rochester roster at 23. He has played every level at a young age. He didn't get there by his tools. He progressed based on his outstanding ability to defend at SS. Hernandez is the second youngest pitcher on the Rochester roster. He is 5 days older than Guerra. He also has had success as a younger players at his level. Who are the youngest players in the Twins system with major league experience? Escobar as a position pla…

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/jon-heyman/19687715/blue-jays-dodgers--giants-among-teams-thought-interested-in-morneau The whole (albeit small) story is on Morneau, but I found this interesting. I bet they do. I love Morneau, but Ryan will be forgiven for the Liriano debacle if he makes lemonade out of that contract. I hope he's open to paying some of that contract in return for legitimate prospects.

http://mlbbuzz.yardbarker.com/blog/mlbbuzz/article/sources_mariners_considering_willingham_craig/11325958 It's an interesting thought. The Twins give up Willingham or young Mariners pitching. They could move Revere to left field and plug Parmelee in right. Mariners are loaded w pitching prospects. Walker, Hultzen or Paxton could each be in play for Willingham, I think.

I have always been a Twins fan, and I hopefully always will be. Since I feel really umcomfortable when people are negative about something that I enjoy talking about, I think I will start a list of things that has gone right for the Twins this year, no matter how few or (unlikely) many there may be. Feel free to add on any you think of. 1. Health: Coming into this year, health was a big problem for the Twins. Mauer, Morneau, and Span were all coming-off seriously injury-plagued years. Except for Morneau's quick trip to the disabled list because of his wrist, all three have been healthy and fairly productive. Unfortunately, Scott Baker and Joel Zumaya were both put o…

There appears to be a bevy of mediocre to slightly above average pitchers about to hit FA at season's end and there's also a strong belief/desire among Twins fans that the team is going to attempt to fill out their rotation by signing at least one, if not more of them. But, and this may just be the pessimism in me, the Twins don't strike me as the kind of team that will make a run at say a James Shields. If I had to guess I'd say we're more likely to see them re-uping with Pavano, or perhaps gasp Scott Baker. If I had guess with slightly more optimism I'd say they invest in reinforcing Gardy's door and make a run at Kyle Lohse. But that's just me. What does everyone els…

Last year, the Twins traded Delmon Young to the first-place Tigers in return for marginal prospects. This year, the Twins traded Francisco Liriano to the first-place White Sox in return for marginal prospects. This isn't a complaint about the trades themselves (though they sucked), but am I the only one who finds the act of helping strengthen a division rival for a deep postseason run entirely too... chummy?

Watching Casilla get regular play this week, I wonder what the Twins plan for him. Should they continue to give him regular time when Plouffe returns? His one outstanding measure this year is UZR. Can his defense carry his bat? The new frontier in baseball understanding is defense impact on wins. I hope the Twins are pioneers I this area. Maybe defense means very little and batting is everything. Maybe not. I suggest the Twins start him regularly at 2B the rest of the way. Let's see if he can maintain his UZR. Trade Carroll for anything. Push his 3.75 to pitching.

http://www.twincities.com/twins/ci_21176133/minnesota-twins-owner-jim-pohlad-hopes-terry-ryan "In our minds, he's permanent, but I can't speak for Terry," Pohlad said as he watched batting practice at Target Field on Friday, July 27. "We don't have any desire to see a change there, but we know that he's got to make that decision."