Twins Rumors

Twins Closing In On Gagne?

By | January 19, 2009 at 8:36pm CDT

La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune heard from an insider source that the Twins aren’t far apart in contract negotiations with Eric Gagne.

A second source cautioned that the team is looking at several relievers, and that Gagne is only one of them, but it appears the Twins are finally close to inking some bullpen help. Gagne, 33, posted a 3.52 ERA after the All-Star break last season. He had a 5.44 ERA in 50 appearances overall.

Odds and Ends: Cordero, Varitek, Hudson

By Tim Dierkes | January 19, 2009 at 2:12pm CDT

Links for Monday…

The Twins watched Chad Cordero’s recent long-toss session. As you know, they’re also eyeing Brandon Lyon and Eric Gagne.
Baseball America has the minor league transactions. Charlie Zink stays with Boston and the Cubs signed Ken Kadokura, among other deals.
Sean McAdam breaks down the Jason Varitek situation, saying his value isn’t much higher than Gregg Zaun. Zaun signed for $2MM.
Athletics Nation asks: how about Orlando Hudson at shortstop?
RotoAuthority finds some upside starters for fantasy drafts.
Rob Bradford of WEEI explains why signing Jonathan Papelbon long-term will be more difficult than Dustin Pedroia or Kevin Youkilis.

Twins Pursuing Lyon, Gagne

By | January 16, 2009 at 8:41pm CDT

MLB.com’s Kelly Thesier has an update on the Twins’ ongoing search for a setup man. According to her report, the team is focused on Brandon Lyon and Eric Gagne.

Lyon has drawn interest from several teams this offseason and, according to his agent, could sign with one of them next week. The Tigers and Cardinals are two of the teams in pursuit of his services. The 29-year-old righty posted a 4.70 ERA while recording 26 saves for the Diamondbacks last season.

A source told Thesier that the Twins have actually discussed terms with Gagne’s representatives. He’s coming off his worst major league season and should come fairly cheap. Then again, his agent is Scott Boras.

Rosenthal On Andruw, Nady, Lyon, Madson

By Tim Dierkes | January 16, 2009 at 3:00pm CDT

The latest from Ken Rosenthal…

The Braves are pulling back for the moment in their search for an outfield bat. They’ll hope for a free agent bargain or the right trade. Rosenthal says they’re torn about Andruw Jones. The Braves seek a right-handed hitter but aren’t dead set on it. They were unwilling to meet the Yankees’ demands for Xavier Nady.
Brandon Lyon’s agent is telling teams he has a two-year, $9MM offer in hand (Kyle Farnsworth money). The Tigers or Twins are possibilities there, while the Cardinals may have offered one year. Jon Paul Morosi confirms Detroit’s interest, but says they’ve yet to make an offer. Morosi believes the Tigers have about $5MM left in their budget.
Ryan Madson turned down a three-year, $12MM extension from the Phillies. The Scott Boras client is eligible for free agency after the season.
Execs have all kinds of concerns with Oliver Perez: his flyball tendencies, frequent walks, and inability to reach 200 innings.
The Yankees have little interest in Ben Sheets and Freddy Garcia. The Rangers, Mets, and White Sox remain in the mix for Garcia.
The Brewers and other teams are in on Braden Looper, while the Orioles and Dodgers have backed off.
Edgardo Alfonzo is playing well in the Venezuelan Winter League and could make a comeback.

Odds and Ends: Putz, Mitsui, Varitek

By Tim Dierkes | January 16, 2009 at 9:45am CDT

Links for Friday…

Jacob Jackson proposes a new, simpler free agent compensation system.
Jon Paul Morosi says the Mariners wanted Fernando Perez from the Rays in the failed talks that would’ve brought J.J. Putz to Detroit. The Rays were unwilling to do this in part because B.J. Upton will be unavailable to start the season.
Koji Mitsui again failed to garner a bid from an MLB team.
Aaron Gleeman discusses the Twins’ decision not to use certain advanced statistics.
Tony Massarotti and Curt Schilling talk about the Jason Varitek situation.
Former GM Woody Woodward is back with the Mariners, as a scout. The Pirates added former Tigers GM Bill Lajoie as a senior advisor to Neal Huntington.
The Nationals have done little in the Japanese market, and they were never involved on Koji Uehara.

Twins Inquire On Eric Gagne

By Tim Dierkes | January 15, 2009 at 10:30pm CDT

According to La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Twins inquired on free agent reliever Eric Gagne. Gagne, a Scott Boras client, posted a 5.44 ERA in 46.3 innings for the Brewers in ’08. It was $10MM poorly spent, though it was cool when Gagne bought up several thousand tickets to a September game and gave them away for free.

Odds and Ends: Lowry, Kawakami, Lowe, Young

By Tim Dierkes | January 14, 2009 at 11:38am CDT

Links for Wednesday…

Rany Jazayerli has withdrawn his support for Royals GM Dayton Moore.
Chris Haft says that if Noah Lowry has a nice spring, perhaps the Giants should trade him rather than Jonathan Sanchez.
Keith Law says Kenshin Kawakami should provide bulk innings for the Braves, while the risk with Derek Lowe is his age.
La Velle E. Neal III doesn’t get the sense the Twins are interested in Michael Young.
Jeff Wilson looks at the likely free agent options for the Rangers.
Peter Abraham suggests the Yankees don’t have sufficient rotation depth without Andy Pettitte or a similar veteran addition.
It was bound to happen sooner or later…a blog dedicated entirely to Scott Boras.
The Reds are looking for power off the bench…Mark Sheldon has suggestions.
A look at the Twins’ non-roster invitees.
Geoff Baker says the Mariners screwed up with Jarrod Washburn.

Twins Aim To Sign Kubel For Two Years

By Tim Dierkes | January 13, 2009 at 8:59am CDT

According to La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Twins hope to sign outfielder-DH Jason Kubel to a two-year deal. Such a contract would cover his last two arbitration years. Kubel, 27 in May, hit .272/.335/.471 in 517 plate appearances in ’08.

Neal says the Twins are just looking to do one year with their other arbitration-eligible player, reliever Matt Guerrier.

Twins Not ‘In’ On Crede

By Ben Jones | January 9, 2009 at 6:19pm CDT

La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune writes that the Minnesota Twins are not going after free-agent third baseman Joe Crede, despite an earlier report.

At least not yet.

Neal believes that the Twins aren’t interested because of Crede’s balky back and its susceptibility while playing on turf in the Metrodome. Neal adds that the Twins do want to upgrade their third base options, but with a healthy player.

Neal writes that a healthy Crede would be an option, though he describes it as a longshot.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Red Sox, Yankees, Braves, M’s, Cards, Mets, Manny

By Cork Gaines | January 9, 2009 at 3:38pm CDT

On this date eight years ago, Juan Gonzalez signed a one-year deal for $10MM with the Indians. The contract is significant because Gonzalez had turned down an eight-year, $143MM deal from the Tigers less than a year earlier. Four years later on this same date, Carlos Beltran would not turn down a seven-year, $119MM offer from the Mets, becoming the tenth $100MM player in Major League history. With C.C. Sabathia and Mark Teixeira already spoken for this year, there are no more $100MM players available, but there are still plenty of signings being made and many players still looking for work. Let’s gander at what is being written in the Blogosphere…

T he Bottom Line takes a look at which prospects the Red Sox should be willing to part with in order to acquire a catcher.
In Mo We Trust wonders if the Yankees would be better suited to keep both Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher.
When Sid Slid wonders if Kenshin Kawakami is a good fit for the Braves and feels the money would be better spent on Derek Lowe.
Bleeding Blue and Teal asks if the Mariners are better suited looking at a player like Eric Hinske.
C70 At The Bat contemplates the Cardinals’ payroll and wonders how the team can consider keeping all six of their outfielders.
Mets Geek breaks down the Mets’ offseason and wonders if Omar Minaya miscalculated the market.
El Lefty Malo is warming to the idea of the Giants signing Manny Ramirez.
Feeling Dodger Blue says Manny is a "must," outlining why he is worth more than just the offense he will provide.
We Should Be GMs chronicles the Phillie’s history of signing the "wrong brother."
Midwest Sports Fans breaks down the Twins’ roster and payroll and looks at who the Twins should bring in and who should be moved, arguing that the team should keep Delmon Young.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here.

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