Twins Rumors

Odds & Ends: Bowden, Owens, Flores

By Tim Dierkes | April 30, 2009 at 9:00am CDT

Links for Thursday…

MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo and ESPN's Jason Churchill say high school catcher Luke Bailey is having Tommy John surgery. He might fall out of the top 20 in the draft, says Churchill.
Thom Loverro of The Washington Times transcribes all kinds of amusing comments made by former Nationals GM Jim Bowden earlier this month. Bowden touched upon Stephen Strasburg, Mark Teixeira, and Aaron Crow.
Alex Speier of WEEI notes that free agency hasn't done much for the Red Sox recently, outside of the Tim Wakefield and David Ortiz bargain signings.
ESPN's Jim Caple talked to pitcher Jeff Zimmerman, who is on the comeback trail with the Mariners.
Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune notes that White Sox outfielder Jerry Owens may be on the way out. It sounds like Scott Podsednik is coming up, but there will be no roster move today.
Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post says Rockies reliever Randy Flores, currently in Triple A, is debating whether to opt out of his contract.
Zach Berman of the Washington Post gathered quotes on new Nationals pitcher Logan Kensing.
Tonight at 10pm CST, Seth Stohs and Twins pitcher Glen Perkins will co-host the MN GameNight radio show.

Odds And Ends: Sanchez, Strasburg, Big Unit

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | April 25, 2009 at 12:51pm CDT

Links for Saturday…

Baseball America's John Manuel reports that 22-year-old Twins first base prospect Henry Sanchez has been suspended 50 games for violating minor league baseball's drug policy. Sanchez was the 39th overall pick in the 2005 draft.
John Maffei of the North County Times reports on Stephen Strasburg's latest start, one in which the top prospect struck out 14, though he did allow a home run (hat tip to Buster Olney). His strikeout to walk ratio now exceeds 10-1.
Ever wonder how much Japanese teams spend on their players? Ryo Shinkawa of NPB Tracker has the figures and their payrolls range from $18-45MM this year.
ESPN.com's Gene Wojciechowski reviewed some old scouting reports on Randy Johnson with the Big Unit himself.
And there are more injuries piling up: Chien-Ming Wang and Cody Ransom for the Yankees and Brian McCann and Garret Anderson for the Braves.

More From Torii Hunter

By Tim Dierkes | April 22, 2009 at 9:13am CDT

On Sunday, Phil Miller of the St. Paul Pioneer Press had this to say about Torii Hunter:

The longtime Twin grows so sentimental about his former home whenever he’s in Minneapolis, he told Jim Rantz, the franchise’s director of minor leagues, that he would like to finish his career with the Twins. But not until his five-year, $90 million contract with the Angels runs out, of course. "He said, 'I'll come off the bench and pinch-hit,’'" manager Ron Gardenhire said of the 33-year-old center fielder. "He said, 'Save me a spot.’'"

Gardenhire added that "we'll probably work something out" if Hunter is looking for a job after the 2012 season.

Hunter was questioned about his comments by Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. Here's what he had to say:

"They asked me, and I said, 'Why not?' That was the place I grew up with, so why not consider that? But at the same time, I'm home. I'm having fun here. That's a long way away. I don't know where my career will take me."

Philip Humber Clears Waivers

By Tim Dierkes | April 21, 2009 at 12:53pm CDT

According to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Philip Humber cleared waivers and will report to Triple A. The Twins had designated him for assignment to make room for Juan Morillo. Turns out they get to keep Humber too, as the other 29 teams passed.

Odds & Ends: Hunter, Keppinger, Swisher

By Tim Dierkes | April 20, 2009 at 10:54am CDT

Links for Monday…

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Jed Lowrie will have wrist surgery, and Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe learned that he could return by the All-Star break. Julio Lugo, recovering from knee surgery, should be ready to take over soon.
ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. says "negotiations between the New York Yankees and Cuban exile prospect Felix Perez have broken down because of the outfielder's problem in obtaining a visa." Perez was set for a bonus north of $3MM, but questions have been raised about his age. The Yanks may have interest in a couple of other Cuban players, Noel Arguelles and Jose Iglesias, once they're declared free agents.
According to Phil Miller of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Torii Hunter would seemingly like to finish his career with the Twins.
MLB.com's Alyson Footer says sending Drew Sutton to the Reds for Jeff Keppinger was "a great, great deal for the Astros." Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle explains why the move was made.
Aaron Gleeman weighs in on the Twins' decision to swap out Philip Humber for Juan Morillo.
David Pinto of Baseball Musings gives his opinion of the Ryan Zimmerman extension.
South Side Sox and Sox Machine discuss the minor tiff between Ozzie Guillen and Nick Swisher.
Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News says the Dodgers signed pitcher Chuck Tiffany to a minor league deal. They'd traded him to the Rays in '06 as part of the Danys Baez deal, and the Rays released him in March of this year.

Twins Claim Morillo; Designate Humber

By Tim Dierkes | April 17, 2009 at 2:01pm CDT

According to La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Twins claimed reliever Juan Morillo off waivers from the Rockies and designated Philip Humber for assignment. They must feel that Morillo has more upside given the mid-90s heat. Both pitchers are out of options. Tracy Ringolsby of Inside The Rockies notes that the Twins were the 21st in line to make the Morillo claim.

Humber, 26, was chosen third overall by the Mets in '04. He was traded to the Twins as part of the Johan Santana deal in February of '08.

Odds & Ends: Swisher, La Russa, Twins

By | April 12, 2009 at 11:24am CDT

Happy Easter to those celebrating. Here are your Sunday links…

Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette addresses the ever-popular question, "What if the Pirates had drafted Matt Wieters" in 2007?
Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star did some number crunching and determined that forking over major cash for a free agent pitcher is often far too risky. 30 pitchers regressed after inking new deals, while only 13 improved.
The Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan believes the Brewers might make a run at Jake Peavy later this season.
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa has abandoned the idea of hitting his pitcher eighth for the last three games, and his club is suddenly on a winning streak. "Hitting the guy ninth we've got a winning record," said La Russa. "I don't want to mess around with it." (Quote courtesy of Rick Hummel with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch).
Tyler Kepner of the New York Times examines the "evolution" of the trade that brought Nick Swisher to the Yankees. As Kepner notes, it "looks like a steal" at this point.
The Twins are considering a uniform design change for the opening of Target Field in 2010. Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune wants your suggestions.
You're obviously a baseball buff if you're checking MLBTR daily, so let me direct you to a brand new site chock-full of streaming baseball-related content. It's NBCSports.com's newest darling, "Circling The Bases," featuring the writing styles of Aaron Gleeman, Matthew Pouliot and Craig Calcaterra.

Rosenthal On Free Agents, Orioles, Ortiz

By Tim Dierkes | April 8, 2009 at 4:39pm CDT

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has a new column up.

Rosenthal discusses the unprecedented number of decent free agents available, a few games into the season (click here for our free agent list). He suggests the hitters will have a harder time getting jobs than the pitchers due to the time needed to shake off the rust. In talking with execs, Rosenthal learned that the trade market for mediocre players (Jarrod Washburn, Nate Robertson, Austin Kearns) may be depressed this summer due to the available free agents.
As he wrote in February, Rosenthal says that Braden Looper turned down more money to play for the Orioles due to his preference for the NL. Tim Redding also preferred the easier league. The result of those rejections: a very questionable '09 rotation.
Rosenthal spoke to an executive who was shocked to discover that Russ Ortiz seems to be back to his peak form.
Rosenthal speculates that Paul Bako could help the Twins.

Odds & Ends: McPherson, Izzy, Hammel

By | April 1, 2009 at 9:31pm CDT

Happy April Fools, or something. Here are your Wednesday night links…

Mike Axisa over at River Ave. Blues believes the Yankees should take a long look at former top prospect Dallas McPherson.
Sam A. Miller of the Orange County Register presents some best-case scenario projections for the 2009 Angels.
Jason Isringhausen is going to stick it out with the Rays. He'll be placed on the disabled list to start the season, but could be pitching for Tampa by mid-May.
Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus discusses some of the Rays' offseason moves with RaysProspects.com. He also touches on Jason Hammel's trade value.
Pirates president Frank Coonelly hosted a chat with fans at MLB.com on Wednesday.
Mariners Rule 5 pick Jose Lugo, a reliever, has been returned to the Twins.
Another Rule 5 pick, catcher James Skelton, has been waived by the Diamondbacks.
If you missed it, take a look at Tim's Tuesday chat.
Join the fun! Add MLBTR to your Twitter following tonight. And hey, while you're at it, why not check out your (attention craving) friend Drew Silva as well?

Odds & Ends: Smoltz, Cubs, Melky, Lima

By Tim Dierkes | March 30, 2009 at 10:55am CDT

Links for Monday…

Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle writes about the Giants' lack of interest in Adam Melhuse and considers other players who could help.
Alex Speier of WEEI looks back at the Doyle Alexander for John Smoltz trade of 1987. According to former Tigers GM Bill Lajoie, the Braves would have taken Steve Searcy instead of Smoltz.
Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald says the Cubs "appear to be getting some trade feelers" on out of options relievers Chad Gaudin and Angel Guzman. Moving one could create space for Rule 5 pick David Patton.
Tyler Hissey of Around The Majors looks back at the Delmon Young/Matt Garza swap. What did MLBTR commenters think when the deal went down on November 28th, 2007? Click here to find out. Garza will face the Twins for the first time today.
Eddie Bajek of Detroit Tigers Thoughts says the Tigers are apparently trying to recreate the bullpen of the 2007 Rays.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post believes Melky Cabrera would be best served as an NL bench player.
T.J. Simers of the L.A. Times discusses the Dodgers' $47MM bust, Jason Schmidt.
Aaron Shinsano of East Windup Chronicle has more Korean prospect news: the Royals signed catcher Shin Jin-ho, while the Mariners signed catcher Choi Ji-man.
Jose Lima is back playing baseball in the U.S., according to Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times.
Will Sommer of Mets Fans Forever talked to GM Omar Minaya.
Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post looks at the Marlins' decision to non-tender reliever Joe Nelson. It would've made a lot of sense to bring him back.

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