Week in Review

Too bad Beltre's price is too high. :(

Andy LaRoche, Scott Elbert if he's even healthy, and a PTBNL sounds like a decent bounty.

I don't think the price for Beltre is too high at all. A better than average third baseman, great fielder--are they supposed to give him away?

Plus Beltre is signed at under market value.

I'm with Playwright. I love how the Twins horde decent young pitchers until they have ten middle of the rotation possibilities, but refuse to trade one for a hitter with any pop. Hell, the only time they tried, they traded the one with highest upside for a guy who had already lost his power on the way to the majors. Loving that .106 ISO, Delmon.

Playwright,

A lot of people thought Beltre would be available for very little because of his contract.

I think the Twins like the thought of having their rotation set for the next several years with affordable, young, home-grown talent.

The Twins have always emphasized pitching, and their rotation - especially once Liriano is finally plugged in - looks fantastic for years to come.

The only one of those starters I think would be worth parting with would be Perkins. He has slightly worse numbers and already has a long injury history. He's a hometown kid though and that may play into it somewhat.

And considering they asked for one of Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn, Glen Perkins, or Kevin Slowey as well as other minor league prospects, can you blame them?

Depending on the prospects, absolutely. That seems like a fair price.

Another thing to think about is that the deadline isn't here yet, and they could very well have another target in mind.

If Kevin Kouzmanoff is available, as has been rumored, I think he'd make a lot of sense for the Twins organization. Younger, cheaper, could possibly be locked up long-term.

Also, Beltre has been playing injured all season. If he hits the DL for an extended period of time, that trade really comes back to haunt the Twins.

And AF, the specifics were never released, but the M's were said to have asked for a package similar to Blanton's, which apparently means one of the four starters, and one of the Twins' top AAA prospects as well, or possibly Denard Span, I'd guess.

Steve, if you're the Mariners do you trade Beltre for Perkins? If you're a Mariners ticket-holder do you like that trade?

Twins fans don't really expect to get something attractive for a washed up Livan Hernandez and overpaid Michael Cuddyer do they?

I think the Mariners have every right to ask for a big price. A package of Perkins and another top prospect wouldn't be a bad return for them at all. If I were in the GM's chair, I'd have made a similar demand.

I think Mariners fans would like to see some good young pitching in there, but I also realize that Perkins isn't a Godsend and that without Beltre, the Mariners' already dismal offense gets even worse. If I were a fan, I sure wouldn't like that I'm paying to go watch that offense take the field every night, no.

I'd be excited to have a good young arm for the future (and presumably another good young player), but the remainder of 2008 would not be a pretty sight.

Simple. Move Cuddyer back to 3rd and play Kubel/Span in left. Try and pick up a cheap DH (Dan Johnson, Jack Cust, Jason Botts back from Japan, Barry Bond if you can stomach it) that can hit.

I think this move would be a downgrade.

i think there are a lot of people overrating how much of an offensive force beltre is now. he isn't the same guy he was with the dodgers. he's 15th in MLB in OPS for 3Bs (778), and 14th in SLG and OBP.

he was slightly better last year at 8th (802 OPS), but 13th in 2006 (792).

he's just not a premier offensive 3B any more. he's good, but not a game-changer.

Greg,

If you look at Beltre's splits away from Safeco Field, they're a significant improvement.

Not saying that it necessarily makes it a good trade one way or the other, just pointing it out.

He has an .841 OPS on the road this year and an .858 last year.

You guys are on the ball today!

One of those four pitchers and a couple lesser prospects is completely fair for Beltre. As a Mariner fan, I'm glad they didn't do it. A potential #3 starter and some unknown lesser guys is hardly a haul for AB. He's under contract through 2009 for fair market value and the Mariners don't even have a readily available replacement in the system. Better to keep Adrian unless we are getting a young 3B to replace him with.

By the way, the guy who said he has been battling an injury all year... He has but its to his left thumb and it doesn't hinder his fielding or swinging. He is going to have surgery this offseason to get it taken care of. The club debated doing it this last winter but took the "rest and heal" approach. It started to flair up again in spring training. Its not anything that will cause him to go on the DL.

I knew the Twins would never be a good fit simply because Beltre has a contract that pays him more that the league minimum. They probably figured that the Mariners would be happy to dump his salary for a PTBNL or something. Asking for a package similar to Blanton's is actually on the downside of Beltre's value in my opinion. Blanton is a turd nowadays and will be lucky to be an innings eating middle of the rotation guy for the Phils. Beltre is a gold glove third baseman that is on pace to hit 30 homers in a severe pitchers park that kills right handers. Imagine what he could do in the homer dome...

I hope the Mariners are talking to LA now about a package around LaRoche.

There's a match for ya!

Greg,
It's not that people are overrating Beltre, it's that the Twins categorically refuse to even field a solid 3B.

Thr33,

I know Beltre's injury isn't too major, but I think that any team looking to potentially take on a player is going to look at that injury as a big risk. In this case, Beltre having surgery in the offseason is going to be a concern of any suitor, even if it's not a major operation.

As for the starters involved, I think the "potential #3" starter tag is very dependent on which you're referring to. I don't think Nick Blackburn or Glen Perkins will be more than a #3 starter, personally. I agree there.

However, looking at Scott Baker or Kevin Slowey, either one of those two could eventually turn into an ace someday down the road.

Slowey was the Twins' Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2007. Check out his minor league numbers:

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/S/kevin-slowey.shtml

Those type of numbers are out of this world.

133.2 IP, 1.89 ERA, 107 K, 0.96 WHIP, and he only walked eighteen batters.

Just this writer's personal opinion here, but I think if that trade had been made, Seattle fans would've been pretty happy in two years to have pulled Kevin Slowey or Scott Baker out of Minnesota's hands.

We'll see in time if I'm right or wrong I suppose. :)

You never trade pitching for offense. A starting pitcher and a prospect for Beltre looks like Jurrgens for Renteria all over again...

rdc, thats some flawed logic.

The risk heavily leans on the team receiving prospects in the deal. Starting pitcher or otherwise.

Steve,
I hear what you're saying and really wouldn't expect the Twins to deal pitchers that are contributing on the big league roster. I still don't think its too much to ask for one of those guys and some middling prospects for a guy who would solidify a long standing problem (third base) AND someone you can slot 5th in the order behind Morneau.

Having Beltre at third and batting in the middle of the lineup would benefit the Twins HUGE. Or is having Glen Perkins round out the rotation more of a priority? I mean the Twins have Liriano rotting in AAA for crying out loud. Its not like they don't have a surplus of pitching.

Oh and no one is going to give them a solid third baseman for Livan Hernandez. That rumor about them wanting to package Cuddyer and Hernandez for a quality player was some good comedic material.

In regard to K-Rod: Would it make sense for the Angels to let him pitch in situations that might expose him, diminishing his numbers to possibly bring his value down to resign him?

Perhaps they should make him pitch underhanded the rest of the year...at least knock about 15 mil off of the 5 year contract.

I think K-Rod has the stuff to succeed in any situation. Besides, why would any team - especially a first place team - purposely try to make one of their stars perform worse?

totally disagree that you don't trade pitching for position players. that's exactly the way good teams build. you draft good pitching, more than you need if possible, because it's easier to trade excess pitching for hitters than the other way around.

Twins get atkins, i want him here !! that would add so much to the tiwns line up. . do you think the twins would rather part with cuddiar or span?? I heard they want to hold on to span. . do you think Span/Cuddiar and (b+) Anthony Swarzak would be eanough to get him, or would we neeed to add someone more? thoughts ??

Bray,

Atkins doesn't look like he's going anywhere. The Rockies once thought of him as tradeable, but he's performing so well that they've begun to think of him as a core player.

As for the Span/Cuddyer comparison, I think Denard Span has considerably more trade value right now. He's young, in his rookie season, and therefore under team control for many years to come.

Cuddyer posted a great 2006, but followed with a mediocre 2007 and a terrible 2008 thus far. He's on his second DL stint this season (and had two last year as well, didn't he?) and doesn't look to be living up to the big contract he signed this offseason at all so far.

Span's got the trade value for Minnesota, thanks to outrageous Minor League numbers this season, his great speed and range in the outfield, and an OBP over .400 with the Major League club.

Those numbers will come down of course, but he's still got to be very appealing to other clubs.

See, i never heard that they want to keep him, i just see Ian and all the talent he has, he is t great 3rd basemen (in the making) i guess they will most likely end up moving atkins to 1st. . And i agree, span SHOULD be a nicer catch. . and i think he will be a great OF were ever he goes, but the twins are in a situation where they don't want to keep them both (unless the rules change and 4 of's are aloud) cuddy is a good player who looks awesome AT TIMES, it pisses me off how many pitches low and away he looks dumb on!! and honestly if the twins cant contain him i down know who can. any way, i dont know what the hell we will do. . i dont want to give up that much for beltre` i don't think he is worth it. . and report is he is lazy. . any way thanks for the up date. .