Twins Offseason Plans
SUNDAY: Further reading on the Twins: a Q&A with Smith conducted by La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Smith doesn’t tip his hand on whether he’d be more willing to trade an outfielder or a starting pitcher.
SATURDAY: Tom Powers of the St. Paul Pioneer Press dishes on the Twins, who are holding their organizational meetings this weekend.
- GM Bill Smith is looking for help in the bullpen and middle infield. Powers still expects free agent Dennys Reyes to sign elsewhere; perhaps the Twins will sign a righty reliever. Nick Punto seems more likely to be re-signed. Another infielder will probably still be added.
- Powers sees Smith as more likely to trade a pitcher than Delmon Young. I agree – it’d be surprising to see the Twins give up on Young after one year.
- Smith had all kinds of trade discussions this summer, but ultimately felt some GMs were "trying to pick on the rookie."
- For more on the Twins, check out our Offseason Outlook.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Bradley, Peavy, Young
A look at what is being written around the Blogosphere…
- Goat Riders of the Apocalypse looks at Milton Bradley and sees a clubhouse cancer, but can’t ignore his .999 OPS and wonders if he is the answer in right field for the Cubs.
- Pinstripes Published takes a look at the crop of free agent starting pitchers and speculates on who will sign with the Yankees, with the most likely being C.C. Sabathia, Jon Garland and Ryan Dempster.
- Chop-n-Change takes a look at which prospects it might take to land Jake Peavy, and wonders if a package built around RHP Tommy Hanson and OF Jordan Schafer could get it done.
- Talking Chop does not want to the Braves giving up prospects for Peavy and would rather see the Braves acquire pitching through free agency.
- First And Goal From Second Base warns that it will be a mistake for the Twins to trade Delmon Young.
- Twinkie Town takes a look at which Twins free agents could return (Nick Punto, Dennys Reyes) and the rest of the Twins offseason.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.
Odds and Ends: Castillo, Avila, Young
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
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.
Delmon Young Available?
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.
Olney’s Latest: Bruce, Draft Strategies, Young
Here’s Buster Olney’s latest blog entry.
- Olney takes a look back at last winter’s rumored Erik Bedard for Jay Bruce trade. Bruce has been living up to his untouchable tag. The Reds have to be happy with the way their young players are developing, but a rotation of Bedard, Aaron Harang, Edinson Volquez, Johnny Cueto and Homer Bailey could rival the Braves of the early 90’s. That said, Bruce won’t be traded anytime soon.
- Numerous reports are coming out regarding draft strategies. Here are a few links – Astros, Athletics, Brewers, Pirates, Rangers, Rays and Yankees.
- Olney also touches base on the seemingly lopsided Delmon Young trade from the past offseason between the Rays and Twins. The Rays are in first place and have benefitted since receiving Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett in the deal. Garza is pitching well, while Young is still homerless on the season. Young is only 22-years old and is bound to fulfill at least some of what was once limitless potential.
Posted by Shannon McKeown
Neal On Garza Trade
I recently named La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune as Rumor Royalty for the Twins. He answered a few questions for MLBTR.
MLBTR: Given the loss of Carlos Silva and probable trade of Santana, was it wise for the Twins to send Matt Garza to the Rays?
Neal: The Twins needed to address their offense. They were deficient last season at third base, left field and, on the days Joe Mauer wasn’t available, designated hitter. Scouts from other organizations keep talking about Delmon Young‘s 40-homer potential, and it was nice to hear Brendan Harris say, "everyone has to pull their weight at the dish," on the day of the trade. I’ve covered this team for 10 years and have seen a lot of bad offense.
You can’t blame the Twins for not re-signing Silva, but you wonder why they didn’t trade him during the season when the Phillies and other teams were interested.
Topkin On The Delmon/Garza Trade
I recently named the St. Petersburg Times’ Marc Topkin as Rumor Royalty for the Rays. He was kind enough to answer a few questions for the site.
MLBTR: In your opinion, which club got the better end of the Delmon for Garza swap?
Topkin: My immediate reaction is that the Twins did because Delmon established himself as a potential impact player for a long time, a guy who could be a ten-season All-Star and hit in the middle of a lineup for fifteen years, while Garza still has to make that leap and Bartlett has to become more than a "steady" shortstop.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Santana, Fuentes, Heilman
The execs may be on a plane home right now, but the writers are still filing all sorts of rumors. Here’s Ken Rosenthal’s latest piece.
- Rosenthal says the Mets did not talk to the Twins about Johan Santana today, which is surprising. But they did talk earlier this week, at which point the Twins gave the Mets a list of players they liked. The Mets were fine with everyone on the list, which probably included Carlos Gomez and Mike Pelfrey. Rosenthal adds that the Mets are the only NL team firmly in the mix for Santana, and shipping him to the other league might be a factor for the Twins.
- The Giants turned down an offer of Delmon Young for Tim Lincecum before Young was sent to the Twins. This leaves skepticism that the Giants will accept three years of Alex Rios after turning down five of Young.
- The Mets made a straight up offer of Aaron Heilman for Brian Fuentes. As far as I can tell Heilman doesn’t reach free agency until after the 2010 season, so the Rockies would be doing pretty well here. Plus, they could plug him into the rotation. Oddly the dealbreaker was the Rox asking for Scott Schoeneweis as well. I thought the 34 year-old had negative trade value. Rosenthal adds that the Tribe took a glance at Fuentes as well.
- The Rox offered Jamey Carroll for Josh Barfield, which is pretty lopsided even with the year Barfield had. Of course the Indians declined.
Odds and Ends: Burke, Nathan, Adam Miller
Here we go, another collection of random rumors.
- Chris Burke is definitely getting traded. Though Burke was the 10th overall pick in 2001, he’ll be 28 in March and sports a career line of .249/.319/.377.
- Joe Nathan is in Nashville, and seemed amused by the closer vacancies in San Francisco and Milwaukee.
- The Royals have $25MM to burn, and whether or not it makes sense they’re damn well going to spend it.
- The Indians refused to trade Adam Miller for Delmon Young. Paul Hoynes suggests the Tribe tried to push Cliff Lee for Young instead but Lee was too expensive for the Rays. The Indians have a few extra starters and a backup catcher capable of full-time duty in Kelly Shoppach. They’re reluctant to make a deal on both fronts.
- Lew Ford is closing in on a deal with the Hanshin Tigers.
- Johan Santana WHIFF Profile courtesy of friend of MLBTR Tom Koch-Weser.