Twins Rumors

Odds and Ends: Castillo, Avila, Young

By Tim Dierkes | October 15, 2008 at 11:28am CDT

Links for Wednesday…

Chat today, 2pm CST.
Mets GM Omar Minaya regrets the Luis Castillo contract. In another post, Minaya admits that in an ideal world he wouldn’t have to give multiyear deals to relievers, but that’s the way it is.
The Tigers decided not to allow the Mariners to interview assistant GM Al Avila.
Outfielder Luis Gonzalez would be open to re-signing with the Marlins, but it doesn’t seem likely. Gonzo hopes to play in 2009, as he’d like to reach certain statistical milestones.
Viva El Birdos examines the Cardinals’ trade chips.
Charley Walters wouldn’t be surprised if the Twins have trade talks with the Giants regarding Delmon Young. The Giants seem more likely to pursue a slugging infielder, however.

Week in Review: 10/5 – 10/11

By Steve Adams | October 12, 2008 at 1:45pm CDT

Let’s kick things off this afternoon with the week in review…

Rich Harden doesn’t need surgery, and he also doesn’t need to worry about where he’s pitching next year. The Cubs exercised his $7MM option this week. That one was a no-brainer, good news for Cubs fans.
Elsewhere in the Midwest, the Twins exercised backup catcher Mike Redmond’s option for $950K. While that’s great news for Twins fans, the bigger story for them is that Delmon Young could be available this offseason. Personally, I think trading a 23-year-old outfielder with that kind of upside would be a colossal mistake. I realize the Twins feel the need to acquire some infield help, but trading a former #1 overall pick after one disappointing season when he’s just 23 holds zero logic in my mind. I still like the Young/Matt Garza trade for Minnesota in the long run.
Couple of notes on the Brewers’ 1-2 punch, as C.C. Sabathia told reporters he’s open to playing anywhere, and wants to get his free agency over with quickly, and early in the offseason. As for Ben Sheets, despite his elbow injury, he is likely to be wearing a new uniform when 2009 comes around. His injury is apparently not too serious anyway.
We saw a few different rumblings about a possible Jake Peavy trade. Peavy doesn’t like the idea of a full-scale rebuilding project in San Diego, and an interview with his agent hints that he may be willing to play for the Yankees. If he’d prefer to be somewhere closer to home (Alabama), the Braves could be an interesting suitor.
Ryan Howard’s name has been tossed around as a potential trade candidate, but he’s likely to remain in place. One slugging first baseman from the NL will be available though, it seems: Tim takes a look at several potential landing sites for Prince Fielder. Trading Fielder is only a good idea if they can get a cheap, young, potential ace in my mind. With Sabathia and Sheets on their way out the door, the Brewers are going to need that offense working on all cylinders.
For those teams that need power, but lose out on the Fielder sweepstakes (assuming he’s moved that is), there’s still power to be had. Here’s a list of this year’s free agent home run leaders.
Tim covered his Offseason Outlook for the Twins, White Sox, Cardinals, and Astros.
Curt Schilling will either pitch for a contender in the second half of 2009 or retire.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Greinke, Manny, Burnett

By Cork Gaines | October 10, 2008 at 12:36pm CDT

A look at what is being written around the Blogosphere…

Royals Authority feels it will take a Johan Santana-type deal to trade Zack Greinke this offseason.
Goat Riders Of The Apocalypse takes an in depth look at the Cubs ’09 roster and what changes could be made.
Mets Geek (or is it Rays Geek?) thinks the most important move for the Mets this winter is to sign Manny Ramirez, but only for three-years and an option.
River Ave. Blues agree that Manny should only be signed by the Yankees if it can be done for less than five years.
MetsBlog calls Orlando Hudson a "must sign" this off-season.
The Chuck Knoblog doesn’t see how the Yankees can sign two big free agent pitchers and a first baseman and still get the payroll down to $180-185MM.
Drunk Jays Fans does not see any way A.J. Burnett will return to the Jays next season.
First And Goal From Second Base wants to see the Twins trade Jason Kubel for a reliever.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.

Twins Exercise Redmond’s Option

By Tim Dierkes | October 9, 2008 at 10:50am CDT

According to a press release at MLB.com, the Twins exercised backup catcher Mike Redmond’s $950K option as expected. Redmond, 37, hit .287/.321/.333 in 137 plate appearances.

Here is a look at the remaining free agent catchers.

Offseason Outlook: Minnesota Twins

By Tim Dierkes | October 6, 2008 at 1:00pm CDT

The Twins are next in our Offseason Outlook series. Their likely commitments for 2009:

C – Joe Mauer – $10.5MM
C – Mike Redmond – $950K (club option)
1B – Justin Morneau – $10.6MM
2B – Alexi Casilla – $400K
SS – Brendan Harris – $432K
3B – Brian Buscher – $400K
IF – Matt Tolbert – $400K
IF –
LF – Delmon Young – $700K
CF – Denard Span – $400K
RF – Michael Cuddyer – $6.75MM
OF – Carlos Gomez – $400K
DH – Jason Kubel – $1.3MM+

SP – Scott Baker – $423K
SP – Francisco Liriano – $400K
SP – Kevin Slowey – $400K
SP – Nick Blackburn – $400K
SP – Glen Perkins – $400K

RP – Joe Nathan – $11.25MM
RP – Jesse Crain – $1.7MM
RP – Matt Guerrier – $950K+
RP – Pat Neshek – $435K
RP – Boof Bonser – $433K
RP – Craig Breslow – $400K
RP – Jose Mijares – $400K

Other commitments: Mike Lamb – $3MM

That’s about $54MM committed, plus arbitration raises for Kubel and Guerrier. The Twins were at about $57MM heading into the season, so they won’t have much to spend unless they raise payroll. Payroll had been rising by more than 10% a year until ’08. Maybe the Twins will return to the $70MM range.

The Twins could use more power in the lineup; third base is the most reasonable spot to upgrade. The Twins could consider acquiring Hank Blalock (if he can play third), Melvin Mora, Edwin Encarnacion, Casey Blake, Joe Crede, Adrian Beltre, or Garrett Atkins. Beltre is the best target, given his defensive prowess. We’ll see whether the new Mariners GM has a reasonable asking price for one year of Beltre (ie, no one from the current Twins’ rotation).

Shortstop is another need, and the Twins may be targeting free agent Orlando Cabrera. As I’ve said, I’d rather see them go for broke and sign Rafael Furcal. More likely, they will just bring Nick Punto back. But imagine Furcal and Beltre in ’09 instead of Buscher, Mike Lamb, Harris, Punto, and Adam Everett on the left side of the infield. It’d be a huge improvement, but the Twins would have to be able to handle paying $25MM for their combined salary.

I’d leave the pitching staff alone, as the rotation will ideally feature more Baker, Slowey, Perkins, and Liriano and no Livan Hernandez/Boof Bonser. Bonser could even have positive trade value.

Delmon Young Available?

By Tim Dierkes | October 6, 2008 at 8:44am CDT

According to Sid Hartman of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

The Twins won’t talk about it, but it’s expected that Delmon Young, the left fielder they obtained from Tampa Bay before this past season, will be made available on the trade market.

It seems an odd time to shop Young, but moving him for a shortstop or third baseman might clear the way for an outfield of Michael Cuddyer, Carlos Gomez, and Denard Span.

Young, 23, hit .290/.336/.405 in 623 plate appearances. He made some progress in his walk rate, and at least slugged .448 after June 1st.

Twins Interested In Orlando Cabrera

By Tim Dierkes | October 3, 2008 at 4:27pm CDT

According to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Twins are interested in free agent shortstop Orlando Cabrera. Christensen guesses Cabrera could receive a three-year, $30MM contract this winter.

Cabrera, 34 in November, hit .281/.334/.371 in 730 plate appearances. He has a reputation as a strong defensive shortstop, though the plus/minus system says he made just one more play than the average shortstop this year. He’s much better on balls hit to his left than his right.

I like that the Twins seem willing to throw around a little cash, but Cabrera seems a questionable target. Rafael Furcal is risky too, but at least there’s upside.

Odds and Ends: Lowe, Redmond, Timlin

By Tim Dierkes | October 3, 2008 at 10:46am CDT

Linkage for Friday…

River Ave. Blues discovered that Mike Mussina’s wife may be a bigger factor than we thought in regard to his retirement decision.
David O’Brien tosses out some names for the Braves to consider: Derek Lowe, Matt Cain, Roy Oswalt, and Josh Willingham. Everyone likes Lowe…Anthony McCarron says the Yankees and Mets should consider him. Those clubs could also enter a bidding war for C.C. Sabathia, says Bob Klapisch. Will C.C.’s postseason record diminish his contract? I don’t think so.
Greg Couch doesn’t want Javier Vazquez pitching for the White Sox again. Maybe Ozzie is right, Vazquez is not a big-game pitcher. But why say that publicly?
Joe Christensen seems certain the Twins will exercise Mike Redmond’s $950K option.
Chris Carpenter’s shoulder injury is unprecedented among pitchers. Do the Cardinals need to add veteran rotation insurance? Speaking of unprecedented procedures…Takashi Saito had platelet-rich plasma injected into his elbow in July.
Joe Starkey thinks the Pirates should…non-tender Adam LaRoche?
Mike Timlin could retire.
Huge E-Ticket Manny Ramirez feature from Bill Simmons, wherein Scott Boras is blamed for his Boston exit. Good read.

Week In Review: 9/21 – 9/27

By Steve Adams | September 28, 2008 at 5:26pm CDT

Here’s your weekly look back at some of the biggest stories we’ve covered on MLBTR!

The Pedro Alvarez drama may finally be behind us. The Pirates’ first-round pick agreed to terms with the organization on a new four-year, $6.355MM major league contract. Jim Callis and Dejan Kovacevic have some more insight to offer on the signing here. The contract was officially signed later in the week, and the grievance was resolved. Royals fans and Eric Hosmer are also both relieved that this is over I’m sure.
The Blue Jays began talking extension with A.J. Burnett this week. Later on, we learned that the Jays would offer a two-year, $30MM extension onto the remaining two years of his contract, bringing the total remaining value to four years, $54MM. Burnett seemed pleasantly surprised with the amount of money the Jays were said to offer. He expected they’d offer less. You’re always going to be wondering just how many innings he can give you in a season, but in a world where Carlos Silva makes $12MM per season, if Burnett is healthy he’d be a steal at this price.
Lots of question marks for another AL East team’s rotation, with the Yankees trying to figure out just what exactly Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina are planning for 2009. Pettitte has said that he’ll play for the Yankees or retire. Bringing Pettitte back only makes sense if he’s willing to take a much smaller contract. I think around $10MM would make sense; someone also suggested a $7-8MM deal with incentives. That seems fair as well. As for Mussina, he initially said that he didn’t think he’d pitch in 2009, but later at least discussed the possibility of pitching for 300 wins. His first preference would be to pitch for the Yankees again. Congrats to Moose on picking up win number 20 today, by the way. Another milestone in a great career.
Erik Bedard’s injury and operation weren’t as serious as thought, and the Mariners now face more of a decision on bringing him back. If he’s healthy enough to pitch, I can’t see a reason not to bring him back. Maybe they can at least get a few months of the pitcher they initially thought they were getting, and get something in return in July.
Curious about what it will take for your club to reel in that free agent you’re craving? Buster Olney took a look at the market earlier this week that might shed some light on the issue.
One player who will be in that free agent pool is Orlando Cabrera. He openly criticized his teammates, saying that none of them wanted to win enough, and that "they were the problem," not him. Cabera’s hitting a very weak shortstop market; he should draw a lot of interest from numerous clubs. Interestingly, that article suggests Chicago’s biggest rival – Minnesota – as a possible landing place for Cabrera.
Two players officially called it quits this week. Todd Jones retired, notching 319 saves in his career. Elsewhere, J.T. Snow signed a one-day contract with San Francisco, so he could officially retire as a Giant.
Tim updated the Offseason Outlook series with entries for the Reds, Rockies, and Rangers.
Has anyone seen Brad Penny recently? No? Apparently, neither have the Dodgers.

Mariners Rumors: Johjima, Washburn, Ibanez

By Tim Dierkes | September 24, 2008 at 11:36am CDT

Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times has all sorts of good Mariners info today.

Kenji Johjima’s three-year, $24MM extension was mandated by Japanese ownership. Johjima has an opt-out clause after the ’09 season, but only in the event of a serious family issue. The extension looks like a sunk cost for Seattle before it even begins.
Backup catcher Jamie Burke is a free agent after the season. He would like to return but needs to discuss playing time with the Ms.
The Mariners’ direction remains unclear – is 2009 a rebuilding year? If so, why didn’t they swap Jarrod Washburn and his contract for a young Twins pitcher? Even if ’09 isn’t a rebuilding year that would’ve made sense.
The Mariners still have interest in re-signing Raul Ibanez. He may prefer to sign with a contender, leaving the Mariners with even less power.
Baker believes that with Erik Bedard’s injury (and possible non-tender), the team should focus on contending around 2011. After the ’11 season, Felix Hernandez will reach free agency.

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