Minnesota Twins Talk

Going back a few days, Jayson Stark declared that the Twins asking price was: Morneau (pricey) Span (more pricey) Willingham (it made Stark laugh). After seeing the result of the Liriano trade, I wonder what the Twins are asking for, given that I believe Stark also said that it was certain Liriano was going to be traded. Not that I'd be in favor, but there are a few MLB Trade Rumor headlines that make me think that these other three aren't going anywhere. The Phillies are shopping Pence aggressively, and also still have Victorino. The Indians are open to trading Choo, who would fit the bill of any team looking for a Span-type role. If Span ends up anywhere yet, I woul…

Move over Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz... Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels. There is a new big three hitting the scene... The 3-D's: Scott Diamond, Samuel Deduno and Brian Duensing Watch out AL Central - here we come!!!

I am using the work of Sky Andrecheck and Victor Wang to help assess Liriano's value. The work was done in 2009 so the value may be off but the relative value of prospects vs draft pick should be similar. http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2009/7/20/950254/which-is-better-compensation With the help of the discussion about compensation, I believe that the Twins would receive one pick for Liriano after the first round (assuming they make a qualifying offer). I hope I am incorrect and they also get the pick forfeited by the signing team. If it is just one pick, it's value is about 2.6 million. That would be about equivalent to an under 22 grade C pitcher (2.1 million) co…

I initially posted this in the Liriano trade thread..but the more I think of it, the more it bothers/interests me. Since Gardy took over in 2002 (10ys) there have been ONLY 10 players to make their MLB debut at age 23 & under.....NOT including Sept callups for their debuts. Kevin Slowey 23....Scott Baker 23...Anthony Swarzak 23....Adam Johnson 23....Matt Garza 22....Justin Morneau 22....Wilson Ramos 22.....Alex Burnett 22....Jessie Crain 21....Joe Mauer 20 Sept callups 23 & under Glen Perkins 23....Chris Parmellee 23...Joe Benson 23...Jose MiJares 23...Rob Bowen 23....Michael Restovich 23.....Jason Kubel 22....JD Durbin 22.....Liam Hendriks 22....Ben Rever…

Francisco Liriano Vs Nick Blackburn at Target Field. Too bad Mr. Ryan could not include Blackie in the trade as well so we can be done with him.

With the trade of Liriano for a couple of guys who will wear major league uniforms, but won't likely make a huge impact, the Twins have traded one big leaguer. Will they make more trades? Who will go? My guess is that Span is the most likely to go, partly because there are replacements for him--Revere is his immediate replacement in center and Parmelee, Hicks, Arcia, Benson, and Tosoni would be able to fill an outfield position. Morneau is another candidate. He's had a recent upturn in hitting and has not had any concussion issues. I don't think the Twins can both a) get back solid high end prospects and unload his salary on the receiving team, so that is a major snag. W…

In order to fill room in the pitching staff vacated by the Francisco Liriano trade, the Twins recall Jeff Manship from Rochester. Manship had worked in eight games with the Twins previously this year, posting a 5/2 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 10.2 innings while allowing 13 earned runs. His second stint in Rochester proved better as he went 2-1 with a 1.45 ERA in 31 innings with a 22/16 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Manship last worked in a start on Friday night in Rochester.

Per Scott Miller of CBS Sports the Cards and Twins have discussed a deal for Liriano. Is Shelby Miller headed for a spot in the Twins rotation? Hell No. We will receive Scott Miller and he will be an adequate beat writer for the Twins... sorry. http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/scott-miller/19677734/cardinals-quietly-searching-for-starter-talking-shields-liriano

Yahoo! Sports columnist Jeff Passan tweeted today that Joe Mauer's hitting line of .332/.422/.454 should earn him some MVP considerations: With one of the AL's top batting averages (currently third) and the highest on-base percentage in the league, it is easy to give it some consideration. However, given that there are eight other players with better weighted on-base averages (wOBA) and WAR, the advanced statistics do not support Mauer's candidacy for the most valuable title.

Before you laugh, consider the following-- Joe Mauer has started 42 games at catcher. The starting pitchers in those games have pitched an average of less than 5.1 innings, while compiling a 6.53 ERA, a 1.63 WHIP, and given up a homer every 4.2 innings. Meanwhile, they have compiled 5.4 K/9, a 2.0 K/BB ratio, and the team is 17-25 in those games, despite averaging 5 runs a game, a figure that would put us 3rd in all of baseball for runs scored. Ryan Doumit has started 33 games at catcher. The starting pitchers in those games have pitched an average of slightly more than 5 innings, while compiling a 6.12 ERA, a 1.59 WHIP, and given up a homer every 5.1 innings. M…

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/minnesota_twins/index.html Twins interim GM Terry Ryan told Phil Mackey of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities that he hasn't spoken to team owner Carl Pohlad about taking over the position on a permanent basis. "We haven't talked about it at all and I don't anticipate talking about it until we get to the latter part of this year," Ryan said. "We have not had a good year. We've got a lot of work to do here. I'm not in any position to say that interim is going to be off me."

Hallejuhah! Thank the Lord and Amen. In some alternate universe our trade dreams are coming to fruition! 1. Liriano is traded for Shelby Miller and Matt Adams. 2. Span is traded for Billy Hamilton, and the Red's top 2 pitching prospects 3. Morneau is traded to to the Bluejays for Canada west of Ontario, Terrance and Phillip and Travis D'Arnaud, we then flip Vancouver to Seattle for Felix Hernandez and 100 million buckaroos. 4. Sadly, LA rejects a trade the would send Josh Willingham to the Dodgers for Hollywood - straight up. This might be in our best interest. I was in LA at the Rainbow Room in late 2003 and Judd Nelson and Ron Geremy were having a meeting of…

The Cubs, Mets, Mariners, Astros are 4 teams off the top of my head that went out and agressively spent money on their club and failed. Maybe the Marlins will join this list after their splurge this past off season. All 4 teams have gone through a lengthy cleanup and with the possible exception of the Mets... They are still cleaning up. Do the Twins belong on this list. Payroll shot up with the opening of Target field. The team got away from using the farm and spent for quicker answers. It did seem to be a change in philosophy. Did the Twins take their eye off the minor league ball and look for that quick fix? The Twins seem to be looking at possibly spending some …

http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/GM_Ryans_interim_tag_remains_I_dont_feel_good_with_where_were_at072712 "I'm still the interim for a reason. I've got a lot of work to do here," Ryan said. "We haven't talked about it at all and I don't anticipate talking about it until we get to the latter part of this year. ..." He's also quoted in Joe Christensen's article in today's StarTribune that he doesn't want the interim label taken off and that he still has to prove that he can do the job. Sounds like he's merely being diplomatic following Jim Pohlad's comments.

I was asked this morning on KFAN where I thought Liriano would end up. I replied Atlanta; I don't think they'll get Greinke (the Rangers will) and they'll turn to Liriano. But there are literally another 10 choices: Red Sox Angels Rangers Blue Jays Dodgers Orioles Nationals Mets Blue Jays and of course, the Twins. If you have to pick a team, who would it be?

Well, it doesn't surprise me, but according to Jon Morosi's Twitter feed/MLBTR, there is a lot of interest from other teams around Glen Perkins (I was kind of wondering when we would start getting calls about him). The Twins' asking price, just like for most of the other pieces that they don't have to trade this year (Willingham, Morneau, and Span), is apparently "very high".

Will the Twins trade for Greinke?

7 days after the fact the day after an off-day leaving the Twins short for a week (and a day.) Nothing new, but something's gotta change with this team. And I don't know if it the medical stuff or the field management staff, but someone is grossly at fault here...

According to Ken Rosenthal

Twins send: Willingham, Morneau, $20m Orioles send: Dylan Bundy Willingham would be a huge upgrade in LF and Morneau could thrive against RHP in Yankee stadium and other ALE parks. I watched the O's game yesterday and saw a stat: O's are something like 47-5 when hitting 2+ HRs. O's are, purportedly, shopping for "high obp guys" but they have lived and died with the HR. Would this be enough, or too much, to get Bundy?

http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/163962346.html There isn't anything revolutionary in this story, but it's well written. Burton sounds like he's happy and fitting in well. I'll add one thing that isn't in the story: I'm a little surprised there isn't more talk about trading him. He's only under control for one more year. He isn't pitching back to back game very often. His history suggests a long-term deal isn't a great idea. And there are teams looking for a really good reliever.

MLB.com headline reads: "More Mariners' veterans may be on trade block." I haven't heard Hernandez mentioned in rumors but he plays for a last-place team and has a huge contract signed through 2014. Will the Mariner youth movement be ready before Felix and his huge contract are gone? If the Mariners don't improve significantly, he almost certainly will be in a lot of rumors next year. Is it possible some team that needs pitching (like the Twins) could put a package together?

Star Tribune's Sid Hartman writes that Twins GM Terry Ryan is not indicating one way or another if the team is trading Francisco Liriano. He did, however, meet with Liriano's agent.

It was the case that Pavano and Capps, with Liriano were going to be the trading pieces (with Valencia and Casilla to add some value). Now, it is only Liriano out of that group. This is the worst case scenario. I then move to Morneau, but only an insane team would take on one year and $14 million. The Twins have moved from trading a pricey conglommeration of crap to hopefully moving a single pricey maybe-better-than-crap piece. Given this, they have got to spend money on the FA SP market, or make the relevant trades in the offseason that don't end their offensive potential.

As the Twins approach the trade deadline, they will do so with an eye on the future in mind. I see these options as they build towards 90. Option 1: Seek players who can contribute next year and go for 90 wins. As they look at their roster with the current budget, can they reasonably expect to build a 90+ win team next year? If so, they need to add pieces that will help next year. They will need to choose lower upside AA/AAA players rather than a higher upside A Ball player. They will need to retain players under contract who can contribute next year (Span, Willingham, Doumit for example). Consider trading high upside A-Ball prospect for players ready to p…

A tweet by CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman shows what the Twins front office's mindset is right now: I know from a public relations standpoint, trading Willingham would cause a firestorm among fans but in terms of gaining the most value, outside of this coming offseason, Willingham's value may never be higher. He's got a friendly contract but he's also 33 years old and has had a history of injuries throughout his career. Additionally, those power numbers are likely to regress too. At 25% HR/FB, that's well above his career norm of 16% and due from some drainage. His style is conducive to Target Field but it is not like we are talking about him playing in Fenway Park. Whil…

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/jon-heyman/19660930/orioles-looking-into-colon-liriano-headley-and-hitters-who-can-get-on-base I don't get the sense the Orioles are willing to overpay for Frankie. IN fact, that's why his name has come up with them - they think his cost will be more reasonable. Also, a couple of weeks ago Seth wrote up the profile for the Orioles including some names about whom the Twins might ask, if you're interested.

Swarzak lands on DL; Perdomo promoted from Rochester; Pavano to 60-day DL

http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/163787206.html Sid interviewed manager Ron Gardenhire about the tough year but Gardenhire made it clear he doesn't plan on leaving. I thought the community might like to react to that story here as opposed to the Strib's comment section. ~~~ (BTW, if anyone else comes across local or national news regarding the Twins and thinks it might make a good topic, you might want to try this yourself. Just... 1. Title it "Source: Summary" 2. Include the link. 3. Do NOT copy the entire story into the post, though you may want to pull a passage or two. I thought that might be something we try since sometimes some of those sites ha…

http://espn.go.com/blog/the-gms-office This is insider only, unfortunately, so tread lightly on pulling passages. But you can see the proposed deal for free at the top of the story: Crick was mentioned by Nick in today's Trade Target Team Series.