Twins Rumors

Twins Working Towards Blake Offer

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | November 15, 2008 at 9:16am CDT

According to MLB.com’s Kelly Thesier, the Twins are in contract discussions with Casey Blake and his agent.

Blake’s agent, Jim McDowell, said he received the “framework of an offer from the Twins” that they’ll work on in more detail.

Blake, who hit .274/.345/.463 last year with the Indians and Dodgers, has had seven teams express interest in him, according to Thesier.

La Velle Neal heard rumblings that the Twins could make a formal offer as early as next week.

Odds and Ends: Ankiel, Hoffman, Mussina

By Tim Dierkes | November 13, 2008 at 3:37pm CDT

Linkage for Thursday…

Viva El Birdos tries to put a price on Rick Ankiel, and decides now is the time to trade him. Ankiel, a Scott Boras client, is eligible for free agency after the ’09 season.
Derrick Goold runs through the lefty reliever options for St. Louis on his blog. It doesn’t seem like Trevor Hoffman is on the Cardinals’ radar. Hoffman wants to remain a closer, so he won’t be going to San Francisco either.
Brian Cashman explains that $6MM for one year of Damaso Marte was too much, but $12MM over three years works. Ken Davidoff still doesn’t get it.
Mike Mussina will make his decision early next week.
Tony Massarotti runs through best and worst case scenarios for the Yankees and Red Sox.
Jeff Zrebiec names ten possible free agent targets for the Orioles.
Omar Minaya spilled the beans to WFAN’s Mike Francesa. He’s not interested in Ben Sheets, but will make an offer to Pedro Martinez.
The Twins seem more likely to make trades than sign free agents, according to Joe Christensen.
Could Ted Turner buy back the Braves?

Bill Smith On Trading Delmon Young

By Tim Dierkes | November 13, 2008 at 10:38am CDT

Sid Hartman of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune has a quote from Twins GM Bill Smith on Delmon Young: "He is a 22-year-old outfielder with a bright future, and if we were going to trade him, we would have to get equal value." Young may not be easy to pry loose, but it doesn’t sound like he’s untouchable. There haven’t been many serious trade rumors about Young yet.

In other Twins notes, Hartman says the team doesn’t plan on retaining free agent Eddie Guardado but hopes to re-sign Dennys Reyes.

Odds and Ends: Holliday, Takahashi, Lincecum

By Tim Dierkes | November 12, 2008 at 4:00pm CDT

Links for Wednesday…

Richard Justice says the Astros should offer Andy Pettitte $7-8MM to come back.
Joe Christensen doesn’t see Huston Street landing in Minnesota.
Larry Beinfest dismissed a "cyberspace rumor" that the Marlins are planning a run at Manny Ramirez.
Gordon Wittenmyer says the Cubs could fit both Jake Peavy and Ryan Dempster into the payroll, and that the Peavy situation will be resolved first.
Today is the deadline for MLB.com’s Free Agent Frenzy. You have until 4pm CST to submit your picks for 15 free agents. Here are my predictions from November 3rd…I would change the Furcal and Sheets ones for starters.
Who had the Matt Holliday scoop? SI.com’s Jon Heyman broke the story, while Yahoo’s Tim Brown was the first to name the players involved.
Holliday figures to be a three to six month rental for the A’s. Over at FanGraphs, Dave Cameron takes a closer look at Carlos Gonzalez and Greg Smith. ESPN’s Keith Law says the Rockies received a "fair return" for Holliday.
Athletics Nation suggests the A’s sign Derek Lowe.
Ken Davidoff looks at the Yankees’ seesawing philosophy.
Japanese southpaw Ken Takahashi intends to sign with an MLB club, and the Mets may be interested. Nikkan Sports says the Cubs, Padres, and Giants are also in on him.
River Ave. Blues looks ahead to Derek Jeter’s next contract.
Andrew Baggarly reminds us that Tim Lincecum intends to go year to year.
ESPN’s Buster Olney talked to one GM who expects "a whole lot of bargains" in late January, given the nation’s economy.
Rany Jazayerli didn’t like the Royals’ acquisition of Mike Jacobs, but doesn’t think it’s the end of the world.
Braves GM Frank Wren on Jeff Francoeur: "We haven’t talked about him at all. It’s not to say that we wouldn’t."

Rockies Talking Trade With Reds

By Tim Dierkes | November 11, 2008 at 8:50pm CDT

8:50pm: Reds GM Walt Jocketty says nothing is close with the Rockies; he’s talked to a lot of clubs. His snide remark: "They all didn’t allow it to get out."

Jocketty talked to the Rockies about Matt Holliday, but it was a short discussion.

7:37pm: Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News says the Reds have definite interest in Atkins, but not Torrealba or Taveras. The Reds like the idea of adding Atkins’ righthanded bat. They don’t like Torrealba’s price and Taveras’ inability to get on base. Ringolsby says the Phillies, Angels, and Twins are also after Atkins.

3:28pm: Troy Renck confirms Rosenthal’s report, and also speaks of speculation that the Red Sox will make a run at Chris Iannetta. A long shot to be sure.

Other Rockies notes: Renck says the Rox told people close to Manny Corpas that he’s still the closer, meaning Street might be on the outs. Additionally, the Rockies have expressed interest in Carl Pavano.

1:17pm: Ken Rosenthal says the Rockies aren’t done dealing – they’re talking trade with the Reds and other clubs. The Reds like Willy Taveras, Yorvit Torrealba, and Garrett Atkins, with a "definite interest" in Taveras.

Meanwhile the Indians like newly acquired Huston Street and the Nationals are one club eyeing Carlos Gonzalez. Rosenthal says the Rockies figure to hang on to Greg Smith.

It seems we can’t yet judge the Holliday trade for the Rockies. It did seem odd that they would acquire a closer and a young center fielder, two positions at which they already had solid options.

Twins Interested In Street?

By Tim Dierkes | November 11, 2008 at 4:20pm CDT

According to La Velle E. Neal of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Twins might have interest in Colorado reliever Huston Street. With the news that Pat Neshek will need Tommy John surgery, you have to figure the Twins will bring in a reliever or two. Given the Twins’ rumored interest in Garrett Atkins, maybe some kind of megadeal could come together.

Odds and Ends: Burrell, Atkins, Ohmura

By Tim Dierkes | November 10, 2008 at 5:15pm CDT

Links for Monday…

Even after signing LaTroy Hawkins, the Astros would like to re-sign Doug Brocail. They already chose a $250K buyout over his $3.25MM option. Further complicating matters, Brocail is a Type A free agent.
The Royals signed pitcher Brandon Duckworth and then outrighted him to Triple A.
Yahoo’s Jeff Passan ranks all the free agents, from C.C. Sabathia at #1 to Vance Wilson at #183.
The Giants seem likely to hit the free agent market for a reliever.
Pat Burrell hasn’t heard from the Phillies yet.
John Brattain battles Scott Boras on his Manny Ramirez claims.
Aaron Gleeman suggests the Twins would be better off platooning Brian Buscher and Brendan Harris at third base than acquiring Garrett Atkins.
Joe Posnanski continues to find the Royals’ Mike Jacobs acquisition baffling. Jacobs seems to be aiming for a .320 OBP.
Free agent pitcher Kenshin Kawakami still hasn’t decided whether to jump over to MLB.
Outfielder Saburo Ohmura seems to have changed his mind – he’s likely to remain in Japan.

Twins Rumors: Blake, Escobar, Hardy

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | November 8, 2008 at 2:01pm CDT

Joe Christensen has an update on the Twins’ search for help on the left side of the infield. Minnesota is one of seven teams interested in Casey Blake, according to Blake’s agent Jim McDowell.

Blake hit .274/.345/.463 last year for the Indians and Dodgers this year. He’s been released twice by the Twins, but he could come back to stabilize their third base situation.

Christensen has sources who suggest that the Twins are also targeting Yunel Escobar and J.J. Hardy in trades. If no deal is made, they could re-sign Nick Punto, who played 61 games at shortstop in 2008.

The Twins are also interested in trading for Garrett Atkins, who’s six years younger than Blake.

Odds and Ends: Tazawa, Young, Kouzmanoff

By Tim Dierkes | November 7, 2008 at 4:00pm CDT

Links for Friday. As always, I’ll update this post with more stuff so refresh later if you’re interested.

Nick Piecoro suggests catcher Miguel Montero could be the D’Backs’ best trade chip. Their needs will be second base and perhaps starting pitching.
The Marlins’ top priority is improving their defense.
Dave Cameron takes apart Scott Boras’ claim about Oliver Perez. If more of these client books leak out, Boras is going to have to hire Cameron to keep him quiet.
White Sox GM Ken Williams talked about adding speed from within, though Williams is notoriously unpredictable.
Two 19 year-old Indian men named Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel will try out in front of Major League scouts today after winning the Million Dollar Arm contest. The idea of the contest was to find raw talent among India’s huge population, kids who could hit 85mph consistently. The Red Sox and Indians are among the clubs in attendance.
The Phillies may be interested in Junichi Tazawa, though Ruben Amaro’s "We know of him" comment isn’t exactly an endorsement. The Indians, Yankees, and D’Backs will pass on Tazawa, who could command $7MM.
Also at NPB Tracker, a second Japanese club hopes to convince the Rangers to trade Nelson Cruz. Doesn’t make much sense for Texas.
Amaro is figuring out his front office; Chuck LaMar has been promoted to assistant GM.
Chris De Luca’s sources close to Bud Selig say there’s "zero chance" Bud and the owners let Mark Cuban buy the Cubs.
Baseball America has the full list of 561 minor league free agents. See anyone you like?
Former Dodgers GM Fred Claire looks at the notable waiver claims of the past few years.
Baseball Prospectus’ John Perrotto says the Twins are reportedly willing to trade Delmon Young to the Padres for Kevin Kouzmanoff.

Will Rockies Trade Atkins?

By Tim Dierkes | November 7, 2008 at 2:57pm CDT

Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post sat down with Rockies infielder Garrett Atkins, who may be traded this winter. Atkins is comfortable going year to year, even if it increases the chances of a trade. He’s under team control through 2010.

Renck mentions the Indians and Twins as suitors for Atkins. Tracy Ringolsby believes Michael Cuddyer is on the Rockies’ radar (Cuddyer is signed through ’10 with an option for ’11).

Fellow trade target Matt Holliday says Atkins can hit anywhere, though Atkins hit just .244/.303/.415 on the road over the last two seasons.

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