Twins Looking At Veteran Starters

This Twins team is not screwing around this offseason. I like what they have going on so far and what has been discussed up to now.

If the twins can make a trade for a good starter or sign one, they will be a serious contender. They should also sign Scutaro or Figgins or Beltre or Derosa.

I love the connections to Josh Johnson, but I think the reason this connection keeps recurring because he's a Minneapolis native and not because there's any real legs to their pursuit of him.

I think the Twins could put together a decent package, but we really lack the high-pedigree starting pitching prospects to make a run at Johnson.

However, if the Marlins would be more willing to accept a package centered around a combination of Wilson Ramos and Ben Revere, for example, with a few more upper-level Twins' prospects included, that could be more doable.

Names like Swarzak, Duensing, Manship, etc. just probably don't get other teams excited, however. Swarzak is still just 23, so there may be more upside there, but no one's kidding themselves and projecting him to be an ace.

A name like Chris Parmelee carries some significant upside for small-market teams because power is tough to bid for on the free agent market, but he hasn't necessarily excelled in the low minors thus far. Strong walk rate and on-base skills, and some nice slugging numbers, but he needs to learn to make contact, his K numbers are staggering.

The Johnson talks are exciting, but I sadly can't see the Twins having the pieces to pull that off.

Halladay seems even less realistic, given his salary and the fact that he's only got one year remaining.

give up perkins, liriano, bonser, and hicks for josh johnson and dan uggla. and throw in swarzek to. but make the deal on condition that we can sign johnson to a long term contract first like the mets did with the johan trade

i cant think a halliday trade is a good idea cause 1. he wont resign
2. cost to many prospects for a one year rental
3. i dont think he will waive his no trade clause for us
4. he is good but allways had injury problems cause he never want to come out of the game and tires himself out
trade for josh johnson or sign harden

With a nice young top three of Baker/Blackburn/(healthy)Slowey I wonder if finding a veteran starter is more important than filling the still vacant 3B/2B spots.

Lets just say that the Twins could take 2 of the following three at very similar one year deals: Crede, Polanco, or Pavano. I might be tempted to go with Crede and Polanco and then just fill the last two rotation spots with Swarzak and Duensing rather than playing Punto or a prospect too early.

That being said, I don't think getting Crede and Polanco and Pavano would be too much strain on payroll.

While I like the Beltre idea, I think a bidding war with Philadelphia is a bad idea.

One cheaper option that I wouldn't mind seeing is signing Felipe Lopez to bat second and play second base, shifting Punto over to third. Punto's best position over his career has been third base (19.1 UZR/150) and while I don't buy into connections like this really, his best season offensively for the Twins was when he was their third baseman in 2006.

This saves a few million, which could mean the difference between re-signing someone like Pavano or upping the dollars a little more and looking at Rich Harden.

I don't like adding Polanco that much, I'd rather see Lopez.

Denard Span
Felipe Lopez
Joe Mauer
Justin Morneau
Michael Cuddyer
Jason Kubel
JJ Hardy
Delmon Young
Nick Punto

That's a fine 1-9 if we can have a rotation consisting of Harden, Baker, Slowey, Blackburn, Duensing/Liriano/Perkins/Swarzak

Additionally, grabbing Hank Blalock as a bench bat seems like a solid option. I wouldn't be surprised if Brendan Harris was non-tendered. Gardenhire has never been much of a fan of him, he's 30 years old, and he'll be due over $1MM through arbitration after two years of not doing much as a Twin. Our bench is an issue that many people tend to forget, but it's a big weakness.

Redmond/Tolbert/Casilla/Gomez/Harris/Buscher filled our bench this season. That's atrocious.

Considering the twins will have Baker, Blackburn, and Slowey for years to come they could afford to trade some of the top pitchers in the system. How about Francisco Liriano, Anthony Swarzak, Ben Revere, and Jose Morales for Josh Johnson.

I doubt that package makes the Marlins even think about a trade. The Marlins are trying to sign him to a long term deal.

"he is good but allways had injury problems"

Do some research please, since that's completely erroneous.

How about this idea: make low-ball offers to Beltre, DeRosa, and Polanco for something like 1 year, $4m. Stay in touch with their agents, then wait out the market. Don't make them feel like they're being scooped up because they weren't wanted elsewhere; frame the negotiations as deliberate and measured. Then, once Philadelphia has paid for the player they want- as they did with Ibanez- the Twins can pay a discounted price for the similarly skilled alternative who no longer has any leverage- as the Angels did with Abreu.

The same approach would not work with starting pitchers because the constant need will prevent the bidding market from ever drying up. Nonetheless, I think the bounty of young back-of-the-rotation starters gives them more flexibility and will allow them to swing a trade for someone below the top tier if they can't get a bargain on one of the starters mentioned here.

For which side?

I like the idea of going after Harden, I would love Johnson but with the fish due a new stadium in two years I think they lock him up. I like DeRosa as a 3B option also.

I don't think the Twins would trade Halladay for Span straight up to be honest. Span is our only leadoff hitter our only major league ready center fielder and under team control for 5 more year. Teams that operate on a budget like the Twins simply cannot afford to do that.

Figgins would be an amzaing fit, but would be really expensive but worth it. Lopez or Polanco would be cheaper option. Sign Pavano and Trade Perkins, Liriano, Swarzak, Morales and others if needed for an ace.

-Span
-Figgins/Lopez/Polanco
-Mauer
-Morneau
-Cuddyer
-Kubel
-Hardy
-Young
-Punto

-Johnson/Halladay/King Felix... (All unlikely, but possible)
-Slowey
-Baker
-Blackburn
-Pavano

Thats an amazing team.

"Figgins would be an amzaing fit, but would be really expensive but worth it. Lopez or Polanco would be cheaper option. Sign Pavano and Trade Perkins, Liriano, Swarzak, Morales and others if needed for an ace."

Figgins will be too expensive for the Twins to pursue.

The four that you've listed wouldn't net a #2 starter probably, let alone an ace like Halladay or Johnson.

"-Johnson/Halladay/King Felix... (All unlikely, but possible)"

If you think the Twins have the pieces to land Felix Hernandez, you are sorely mistaken. Those three options are not all possible... unless you're extending Mauer and then trading him for Felix. That's about all that could make Seattle listen.

Besides, in your hypothetical scenario:

Figgins = $10MM
Halladay = $15.75MM
Pavano = $5MM

Where are the Twins getting this extra $30MM while preserving the money to extend Mauer?

You can't just throw out every big name on the market and say "The Twins should do this and win the World Series..." things typically don't work like that in baseball, especially not when you're rooting for the Twins.

It's surprising enough that we traded for Hardy; now you're counting on adding Figgins and Halladay or even King Felix??

Before anything. I think the Twins need to sign Mauer to a long-term contract- 7-8 years, $175 million. Then when Morneau signs elsewhere in 2013, they have either Mauer or Wilson Ramos to play 1B

No chance in hell the Twins trade for an ace especially when they still have ace potential in Liriano. The problem is getting him back to his late 2008 form. If not, a rotation of:

Baker
Slowey
Pavano/Harden/FA
Blackburn
Duensing/Swarzak/Perkins

while not great, is not terrible.

twins777 i like your trade just as long as angel morales or denard span dont get thrown in. (why would we trade span)

Dcaff, that's kind of insane to expect us to deal 3 of our most valuable players for only one valuable starting pitcher. What's the point of doing a one year rental if you give away the current pieces that put you in championship contention? That's why teams trade prospects.

Personally, I don't think the Twins should trade for any starters. They should invest large amounts of time this offseason in figuring out Liriano's problems in attempt to turn him back into at least a middle of the rotation, respectable starter. The in house options can soldidfy everything from 2-5 and beyond, the front office just needs to gamble on the likes of Harden, Bedard or Sheets (or maybe select Baker as the front end guy and take chances on darkhorses like Noah Lowry or Brad Penny). Honestly, Randy Wolf is my favorite option, as he is older and won't take such a lengthy contract to lock up for a few years. Regardless, there's a lot of options and Smith can entertain most.

My Roster next year
CF Span
2B Lopez
C Mauer
1B Morneau
DH Kubel
RF Cuddyer
LF Young
SS Hardy
3B Cabrera

Rotation
SP Baker
SP Slowey
SP Blackburn
SP Bedard
SP Harden

Pen
CL Nathan
SU Neshek
SU Gurrier
LR Mijares
LR Crain
MR Rauch
MR Chen

Bench
C Morales
IF Punto
OF Johnson
1B Giambi

"jays24 i did my research and he has been on the DL multiple time including a couple for shoulder problems and he missed half of the 2005 cause of a season ending shoulder injury. the only freak one he has had is a line drive to the dome which he got in 2008 from the pirates"

Sorry, but no. He missed half of 2005 because he broke his leg after taking a Kevin Mench liner to the shin. He also missed some time in 2007 due to appendicitis. He has had some shoulder issues in the past, but not since 2004 (I believe he stopped using his slider regularly after that due to the strain on his shoulder). Other than that, just some minor forearm tightness after returning from the appendicitis layoff, and a groin pull this season. He didn't miss any time after the ball to the head in Pittsburgh.

Scroll down for his transaction history: http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/teams/players/bio/?id=1470

Is Halladay for a package led by Span and Duensing crazy?

Posted by: dizzle | November 09, 2009 at 12:03 PM

Any deal with Span in it is crazy.

They aren't going to trade Jose Morales. Wilson Ramos maybe, but not Morales.

R u kidding me? The Twins would trade Morales alot sooner then Ramos. Morales is a singles/gap hitter with very little power and doesn't have that great of a glove behind the plate. Ramos delivers power and hits for average, along with a plus glove. Morales isn't much more then a career back-up. If the Twins don't resign Mauer and instead trade him away(ala Santana), one of the reasons will be because Ramos will be able to replace him.