Twins Rumors: Padres, Blake, Reyes

"Hopefully they're setting their sights higher."

Any chance of keeping your personal evaluation of a trade separate from the actual rumor?

From the perspective of a Padre fan, I see how trading for one year of Khalil Greene at $6.5 million would be an unattractive option, especially based on his poor 2008 season.

But who should the Twins be setting their sights on? They can't afford Furcal or Cabrera and they'd have to give up a lot of talent for Hardy.

Khalil is as good as it gets defensively (over a .980 fielding pct the last 3 seasons) and while he'll hit anywhere from .215-.250, he could easily hit 25 HR's and 40 doubles again once he gets out of Petco.

And in the case of Kouz, let me just ask this question to Twins fans. Would you rather give up one of your many mid-rotation starters for a 27 year-old 3B under club control for four seasons, coming off of a season in which he hit 23 HR and knocked in 84 runs in a pitcher's park, not to mention a .974 fielding pct or would you rather sign Casey Blake (21 HR, 81 RBI, .957 fielding pct at 3B) for 2 years and $16 million (that is a guess. I'm not sure what he is going to get on the open market)? Again, I'm not sure who the Twins should be setting their sights on.

I think the Twins and Padres match up well, at least in the case of Kouzmanoff. Pads have two 3B. The Twins have a bunch of mid-rotation starters. Let's make a deal.

How bout a terrible contract swap?

Cuddyer for Green- straight up?

CptTopOff,

I would define a 'butcher' as someone who makes a lot of errors. Kouz was tied for 2nd in the NL among 3B in fielding pct so I'd say he is far from being a 'butcher'. I don't need to watch a single game to know that he catches the balls hit at him and throws accurately to first base.

Fielding percentage doesn't tell the whole story because it doesn't factor in range, so you're right in that you can't always be fooled by fielding pct. As someone who does watch the team play on a daily basis, I would grade his range as slightly below average. However, I will say that his overall defense is much better than advertised and he improved greatly on his rookie season, which shows that he worked hard in the offseason.

Ok ok ok....this was tailor made for one of my comments. Its always hilarious how predictable padres fans are. As soon as you dis one of their propagandized players they come out of the woodwork. First of all please do interject your opinions into the trade posts especially when they are as accurate as this one. Koooooz and Greene have long been overrated for the 1 aspect of their games that possess any value. Defense for Greene and Power for the neanderthal. Let me just say this if intelligence meant anything in baseball...well lets just say these morons would never have made it. The lacking IQ is on full display as much of the padres lineup every game with their horrid plate approach and their endless quest for strike outs. To say they look overwhelmed for long stretches at the plate would be an understatement. In the power department both would benefit from a petco exit. I fully agree with Airman that beltre would be the best option for anyone looking for a 3rd baseman right now. His defense is superior to even greene. At the plate he trumps both of them too. Kooz is just a garbage infielder who doesnt make errors within his range. Fielding percentage is quite decieving. Moving on from the Neanderthal, Greene's defense has declined as his strikeout ratio climbs. And considering his ability to penetrate walls with his hand has obviously evaporated the decline of his value cannot be overstated. Stop buying alderson/towers propaganda....your overvaluing your own prospects...what are you the angels...oh wait thats your idol. PS Money Ball doesnt work when you dont spend money on big bats. Keep the faith...your gonna need a whole lot of it.

Hey, here's a little secret for you Twins fans. Kouz last year had 12 homeruns and 46 RBIs. One thing that some of the Padres bashers above forget is that when a hitter is atrocious at home (which is most Padres hitters) it effects your confidence on the road as well. Those 12 homeruns and 46 RBIs might become a 15 homerun and 55 RBIs at the Dome and the new stadium. Greene simply slumped last year. If you look at his 2007 road states (which you could inflate a bit to assume that at a park he could call home and be comfortable with they would likely be even better) he posted 15 homeruns, 29 Doubles!!, 57 RBIs, a .288 BA, and a .519 SLG. That's not too shabby at all. I could see him doing the same at the Dome or maybe even better, especially considering a fresh start.

Yes, those Padres fans love to whine. But you would too if you had to watch hitters go to die at Petco. If Adrian Gonzalez was with any other team....

You know excuses are excuses are excuses. No matter how you cut it. The ballpark was a mistake on so many levels one of which is not its vacuum effect on hitters. Why you bunch of babies ask? Well you wouldnt have the pitching you did in 2007 in another park. Your pitching was garbage this year. Middle relief and even jake peavy on the road. Hoffman was scary for most of your fans to sit through when big hitters came up. How about you shrink the outfield and still suck because we all know thats what is coming. You can't compete one year in the same park and then blame it on the park when your hitters' approach to the plate is exposed. Cut your hair, drop the cult, stop getting ur ass kicked by walls, move your pale ass to the east coast Kahlil....maybe then you will stop pacing 200 strikeouts a year. At least you will never be a Neanderthal like Kooooooooz. The only reason padres fans like the dud like Aki. They just love the entertainment the name provides since the entertainment on the field is AAA at best.

Pohlad is three times richer than George Steinbrenner. He's old! He can't take the money with him! Sign Santana... sign Mags... sign Furcal... sign Manny! Come on you greed bag!

Sorry folks. I live in Minnesota but spent most of my youth in New Jersey and unlike you praire populists I wasn't taught that a)I have some right to other people's money or that b)I should expect business leaders to not run their businesses as... a business.

What the Pohlads do with their money is entirely their concern but I am not going to fault them for not running the Twins into the red to win championships. They spend money as their revenue sharing, TV deals, and stadium permit; if they don't raise payrolls in the next few years that's a problem (since they got a publicly financed stadium) but the idea that since Furcal is on the market and Morneau wants another bat and Pohlad has $3 billion = Bill Smith should sign Furcal does not compute with me.

Notice that the Steinbrenner family (also undergoing a transition from the elder owner to his family successors) spends over $200 million in payroll but with the insane ticket revenues of Yankees Stadium and the even more insane TV revenues of YES, the Yankees are one of the most profitable franchises in the league... they don't sign A-Rod's just because Steinbrenner is rich and is willing to lose money to win; they sign A-Rod's because they play in New York.

As for you Padre fans... good lord you are making me laugh thinking that Kouz+Greene for say Perkins would be a good "match." Perkins may not have a huge ceiling but he has... talent, and a future. Khalil does not, and I agree with the author... if the best the Twins can do is trade Perkins for Kouzmanoff they should be ashamed. I would do Chase Headley for Perkins straight up... other than that the Twins don't have much to talk to the Pads about.