SB Nation User Blog: Corey Ettinger

MiLB Notes 8-19-08

Corey Ettinger — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 06:18:21 -0000

Red Wings:

One night after being two-hit and shutout, the Red Wings had yet another tough evening at the plate, this time mustering only three hits. However, they also managed to draw three walks and all three of their hits went for extra bases, including homeruns from Garrett Jones (20) and Bobby Kielty (4). That would prove to be enough as Kevin Mulvey pitched another solid game as he delivered six innings, allowing just one unearned run on just three hits. He walked five (yikes) and struck out seven (yay). After Mulvey departed the Wings tandem of Ricky Barrett and Bobby Korecky lashed the game down, allowing just one hit and one walk over the next three innings while combining to strike out five.

The Wings are continuing to surge over the second half of their season as numerous offensive players such as Jason Pridie, Garrett Jones, Alejandro Machado and Luke Hughes have all been contributing strong numbers. Yankees pitching prospect Mark Melancon pitched two solid innings of relief tonight. Melancon has moved quickly this year from A ball to AAA now and could make a September appearance for the Yanks.

Rock Cats:

In a chance to get an early look at some of the Tigers up-and-coming players, the Rock Cats squared off against the Erie SeaWolves for the first of a three game set. On the mound for the Cats was Jay Rainville who has struggled mightily through what has been a terrible season. Today he managed to pitch a pretty good game however, going five innings while allowing three runs (all earned) on seven hits and a pair of walks while striking out five. Hardly a dominant or impressive game, but still decidedly better than many of his starts this year. For the SeaWolves, twenty two year old catcher James Skelton, who crushed A ball and is playing well in 47 AA at-bats had three more singles and a walk. He could certainly be someone to watch. Wilkin Ramirez, the Wolves left fielder has been someone to keep an eye for awhile now and he went 2-5 with a double. Hes carrying a .929 OPS this year as a twenty two year old. The Cats would go on to win this game late however with a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth to walk off. Contributing to the Rock Cats six runs were shortstop Felix Molina and first baseman Toby Gardenhire (who hadn't been seen or heard from in awhile) as each had a pair of singles. Matt Tolbert started the game at short before being relieved by Molina, and he went 1-3 with a single, a strikeout, a stolen base, and was caught stealing once. Also chipping in were DH Steve Tolleson who went 1-3 with a single and three walks and third base prospect Danny Valencia who was 1-4 with a single.

Miracle: No game scheduled.

Snappers:

The Snappers avenged a couple tough losses to the Kernels the past two nights with a turtle-time 11 run beat-down. Everyone in the starting lineup had a hit tonight, but no one had as good of a game as the one guy we care most about - Alexi Casilla. Casilla went 3-4 with three singles and is hitting .571 in his two games at Beloit. Four other players had two hits apiece including DH Jeanfred Brito, right fielder Yangerves Solarte, center fielder Mark Dolenc, and third baseman Juan Richardson. While the Snappers plated 11, and had 16 hits in all, only two went for extra bases, both doubles. On the mound for the Snappers was righty Steven Hirschfeld who picked up his 10th win of the season by going seven inning sand allowing just one run. He gave up three hits, walked three, and struck out six.

E-Twins:

Elizabethon suffered one of its worst losses of the season in this one, falling 10-1 to Princeton. Righty Bradley Tippett had been having a great season coming into this one, but from the start nothing went right, and while he didn't pitch a good game, his defense didn't help him out at all either. Tippett made it just 2.2 innings and allowed nine runs - though only three of them were earned - on nine hits and a pair of walks. Yuck. Offensively the only player to have more than one hit for the Twins was third baseman Nicholas Romero, who had a pair of singles.

Fixing the Detroit Tigers

Corey Ettinger — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:57:21 -0000

via media.scout.com

The list of moves I present will not make the Tigers a great team overnight, but it will begin the process of transforming the lineup and pitching staff. The changes I present may seem pale to others, but given the magnitude of the work involved to make things happen, I believe these to actually be very bold. Hopefully you'll see improvements both in the quality of the starting rotation and bullpen along with minimal downgrades in the lineup and a general upgrading of the defense with more team speed being provided on a day-to-day basis with little payroll fluctuation, making my idea's, I believe, feasible.

Anyways, please enjoy and I look forward to feedback and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask away. I'm always glad to explain my reasonings.

1) My first fix would be to TRY bring in someone who can keep things lose, a joker in the clubhouse who can and will pull pranks and just do stupid things to keep guys loose. This team 'feels' too tight, like they're trying too hard. I don't know who that guy is, but he certainly doesn't need to be anyone special, for us (the Twins) its Mike Redmond, our backup catcher who everyone loves. I'm not a big believer in that whole team chemistry thing, I think mostly its an overblown pile of smoldering dog poo, but to a certain extent it can help - especially when things are going wrong. It may not be possible, but if a small move can be made to obtain a role player whos personality can lighten the atmosphere, I'm all for it.

2a) I'd release Kenny Rogers and Todd Jones. I know thats pretty much the common consensus, but its an easy call to make. Its not that they're bad pitchers, but this team needs an infusion of youth in the worst way. No better place to start than the pair of 40 year olds.

2b) Sign Jon Garland as a free agent. He wont be cheap at 3 years, 14 million per, but he's a capable innings eater who's been there before and knows his way around the AL Central.

2c) Replace Chuck Hernandez. Usually a manager gets to choose who he wants to have on his staff, and I'm sure this is a fight Dave Dombrowski doesn't want to have, but the guy just isn't getting it done and this is a results oriented business. I don't believe as so many do that the pitching mess is somehow his fault, but his job is to get it right and he hasn't.

2d) Trade Gary Sheffield in the offseason and package him with Joel Zumaya (Fernando Rodney if you can, but I doubt it). I know Sheffield has 14 million remaining and I'm aware of what a huge talent Zumaya is, but unless you really think you can fix him - its time to cut bait and get as good of a return as possible. Offer to eat 10 million of Sheffield's contract and try and ship him to the A's for starting pitching prospect James Simmons, and reliever Joey Devine (or Andrew Cardigan if you're willing to look for a bit more long-term upside). The A's have frequently been willing to take on reclamation projects, and both Sheffield and Zumaya fit that billing. If the dollar figure is right, and they can get back a huge talent like Zoom, they just might bite.

If the new pitching coach really believes he can help Zumaya, then hold him and just try and deal Sheffield for Simmons while eating most, if not all of the contract.

The 2009 staff;

SP1 - Justin Verlander (0.6m)
SP2 - Jon Garland (14.0m)
SP3 - Armando Galarraga (0.4m)
SP4 - Jeremy Bonderman (12.5m)
SP5- Spring training battle between Nate Robertson (7.0m) and Dontrelle Willis (10.0m) with the loser moving to long relief.

LR1 - Willis/Robertson
MU - Fossum (~0.5m)
MR1 - Lopez (~0.7m)
MR2 - Miner (~0.75m)
MR 3 - Seay (~0.95m)
SU - Rodney (~2.4m)
CL - Devine (0.4m) / Zumaya (~1.70m)

Total ~50.2m

4) Trade Marcus Thames to the Devil Rays for pitching prospect Jeff Niemann and outfielder Sergio Pedroza. Neimann is a low ceiling guy, but he's pretty much ready to go and frankly, he's about #582 on the Rays list of young, quality, MLB ready arms. Its embarrassing how much pitching talent they have. Seriously, they're rotation could have 5 or 6 ace quality pitchers by the end of next year. Thats vomit inducing to think of. Kazmir, Garza, Shields, Price, Wade, McGee. Sweet Jesus. Toss in Jeremy Hellickson and this is just absurd. Lord help the Yankees because they're going to need it, along with the rest of the AL.

5a) Let Edgar Renteria walk and pay out his 3 million buyout.

5b) Target Orlando Cabrera and Rafael Furcal as they hit the market. They'll each command big salaries as quality shortstops do, but they're young enough and talented enough to be worth it. I'd probably focus on Cabrera, he isn't as talented, but he's proven he can hit in the AL, and is what the team really needs - a very good glove. Furcal probably has more raw talent and is a pure spark plug, but he's also injury prone and hasn't proven he can hit in the AL, something that's becoming more and more obvious is a hurdle for guys make the jump to the junior circuit. Expect Cabrera to run you three years and 10-12 million per.

The Lineup and positions;

1 - Granderson - CF / LH (3.5m)
2 - Polanco - 2B / RH (4.6m)
3 - M. Cabrera - 1B / RH (15.0m)
4 - Ordonez - RF / RH (18.0m)
5 - Guillen 3B / SH (10.0m)
6 - Joyce - DH / LH (0.4m)
7 - Inge - C / RH (6.3m)
8- Thomas - LF / LH (0.4m)
9 - Cabrera - SS / RH (~11.0m)

BN1 - Raburn - INF / RH (0.4m)
BN2 - Sardinha - C / RH (0.4m)
BN3 - Larish - INF / LH (0.4m)
BN4 - Clevlan - OF / RH (0.4m)

Total 70.8m + 13.0m (Sheffield's contract & Renteria's buyout) = 83.8m

Grand total: 134.0m

Projecting Armando Galarraga's 2009

Corey Ettinger — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 05:59:57 -0000

Photo via cache.daylife.com

Hello everyone, first time poster here at this site but I've taken a keen eye to Mr. Galarraga this season and made a point of watching as many of his games as possible. Galarraga has certainly posted an unexpectedly impressive year after emerging from near obscurity to pitch very well, and given that those numbers have managed to hold - and improve even - with the league now having seen him at least once, its fair to begin projecting him as a long-term member of the rotation.

Of course, as with any player on the team, it's important to be able to accurately project him over a longer term so that one can make reasonable assessments as to the teams needs in the offseason. In that vein, its probably time to take a good long into not just his impressive production numbers, but also the peripherals that have led to this impressive season.

Using data from Fangraphs.com, we can see that he averages 90.1 mph with his fastball and can work as high as 92. That alone isn't overwhelmingly impressive, particularly from a right-handed pitcher, however as studies have shown, the difference in effectiveness between a guy who throws 90 and a guy who throws 94 is marginal at-best. He also brings a strong slider that certainly rates as his best pitch with sharp, late bite at 84.5 mph which is very effective both against right and left handed batters. Galarraga also mixes in a solid changeup at 83.6 mph. The pitch doesn't have impressive movement, nor does it have ideal speed differential (9.0+ mph), but he's deceptive enough with it that it can be effective.

That gives him - in my opinion - two + pitches (the fastball and slider) and an average one (the changeup). That certainly qualifies as the makings of a fine starter from a standard scouting perspective.

Armando's production stats of:

IP: 133.1

ERA: 3.11

WHIP: 1.15

K/9: 6.21

BB/9: 2.97

K/BB: 2.09

BAA: .217

certainly carries high marks. However, there are some troubling signs that point to the current production levels being at least somewhat unsustainable over the long term. Among them;

BABIP: .249

HR/9: 1.01

GBo/FBo: 1.16

LOB%: 75.2

FIP 4.26

The ones I've highlighted in particular of course, are worrisome. While Galarraga has limited batters to a scant .217 BAA, there isn't a pitcher alive who is immune from the gravitational pull of the BABIP standard of .296 (save for a few knuckleballers, which Galarraga most certainly is not). Dominant pitchers like Johan Santana (amongst other phenomenal pitchers) can consistently pitch below the mark (by .05-.10 points), but not more sustainably more. But I digress...

The simple truth is that Galarraga has been exceedingly lucky in terms of the rate at which the balls put into play against him have fallen for hits, and simply put, its unsustainable. Whether the almighty BABIP metric takes effect over the second half of this season, or whether it reaps its revenge next year, Galarraga will, like all who have come before him, gravitate toward the mean. Effectively that means that his sterling .217 BAA should likely be closer to .267, and over the long term, most likely will. Over the course of his season, batter hitting .267 instead of a mere .217 would've meant a difference of +27 hits allowed. Thankfully to say his HR rate is pretty much right on the median line, and his LOB%, while a bit better than the average, is well within an acceptable margin of 5%.

While its difficult to gauge precisely how his ERA would look if measured against accepted averages, we could make a rough estimation by simply plugging in the increased number of hits against a xFIP formula (if someone has an up to date formula with AL and Comerica modifiers, that'd be awesome). That could then be taken one step further by converting his LOB% and HR rate, though both numbers are within comfortably average margins, they could certainly play a role in bringing down his production stats for 2009 at least somewhat.

Over this season, even without the additional hits factored in, we can already see how Galarraga's slightly below average strikeout rate and average K/BB ratios hurt him as his FIP stands at just 4.26. A good number to be certain, but one that certainly gives credence to the notion that his production statistics are significantly out-pacing his long-term projections.

Long-story very short: Galarraga is a good pitcher, one that has really helped keep this Tigers team firmly in the mediocre category, and saved them falling into "embarrassment" territory (though I know more than a couple Tigers fans who would disagree with that assessment). Regrettably, when it comes time for the team to determine precisely what they have in the rotation, and then conceivably which moves to make to 'fix' it, they can't expect Galarraga to repeat this performance.

The staff as it looks now has a trio of solid if unspectacular arms in Justin Verlande, Jeremy Bonderman, and Galarraga. While its certainly possible for Verlander to reclaim the form that made him a dominant pitcher in 2006 and 2007, thats far from a guarantee, and the team will certainly need to make improvements to this area of the team, amongst others. Expecting Galarraga to shoulder as much of the load as he has this season, given both his FIP, BABIP luck, and Minor League track record would be foolhardy.

MiLB Notes 8-18-08

Corey Ettinger — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 04:18:53 -0000

Talk about an easy writing night for me. The Twins top two Minor League affiliates had the night off while High A Fort Myers was rained out at Sarasota. But the Snappers did manage to play their game against Cedar Rapids, falling for the second time in as many nights. Twenty four year old righty Esmerlin Jimenez got the start for the Kernels and pitched seven good innings allowing just one run while scattering seven hits and five walks. He was followed for an inning by twenty three year old reliever Tim Keily who pitched one inning allowing no hits or walks while striking out one. He's having a strong year for them out of the pen. Twenety one year old first baseman Gabriel Jacobo is also putting together a fine season and he went 2-4 with a triple. New Britain ran out Dave Bromberg who actually pitched a pretty solid game, allowing just two runs (one earned) in six innings of work while allowing just four hits and four walks while wiffing seven. Things fell apart for the Snappers however when Chris Anderson took over in relief as he yielded six runs (five earned) in just 1.1 innings of work on eight hits and a walk. Not a good night. Offensively the Snappers were again paced by Ben Revere and catcher Greg Yersich for a second straight evening. Each had a pair of singes.

The E-Twins had yet another dominant offensive performance, shelling the Princeton [Devil] Rays for 16 runs. had this game been played during the Little League World Series, the game would've been done after four innings due to the 10-run rule. It's going to take awhile, but I'm going to try and run down all of the noteworthy offensive performances... Leading off the second baseman Dominic De La Osa went 2-5 with a double and a walk. One spot behind him in the order Nathan Hanson went 2-5 as well with a walk. Hitting third and fourth in the order were first baseman Jonathan Waltenbury, and left fielder Evan Bigley who went 3-6 and 2-5 respectively. Waltenbury doubled while Bigley hit a pair of homeruns and drew a walk. Nineteen year old catcher Daniel Rams then went 2-5 with a walk to carry the back half of the lineup. Everyone in the lineup not named Angel Morales however, had at least one hit. On the mound 21 year old righty Bobby Lanigan pitched a great game, tossing six scoreless innings with just three hits allowed, no walks, and seven strikeouts.

Down in the GCL Aaron Hicks hit his fourth homerun of the season while going 1-3 with a walk. Right fielder Daniel Ortiz, designated hitter Michael Gonzalez, and shortstop Juan Sanchez each had two hits apiece. On the mound twenty year old southpaw Jean Mijares pitched six solid innings, allowing just two runs on five hits and a walk. He struck out eight.

MiLB Notes 8-17-08

Corey Ettinger — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:47:14 -0000

The Red Wings played host to the Blue Jays AAA affiliate Syracuse this evening and it turned into a rough night for the offense as they were two hit by Sky Chiefs southpaw, 22 year old Brett Cecil who went seven innings, striking out six. Cecil has moved quickly through the Blue Jays system this season with stops at the Jays A+ and AA affiliates and handled the Wings easily last night before handing the game off to reliever Jonah Bayliss who closed the game out with a pair of shutout innings. Both hits for the Wings came off the bat of Howie Clark who singled twice. On the mound for the Red Wings Philip Humber got the start and pitched well, going eight innings while allowing just two runs on four hits and three walks while striking out three.

This afternoon New Britain played the Akron Aeros, Cleveland's AA club. On the mound for the Aeros was 24 year old Steven Wright and the Rock Cats didn't provide a friendly host for him as they cranked out eight hits, and two homeruns over his five frames before tacking on three more runs against a trio of Aeros relievers. Regular second baseman Steve Tolleson played short and went 3-5 with a double. Dustin Martin played center field and had a triple and homerun, Dave Winfree singled and hit his 18th homerun, a grand slam. Danny Valencia also continues to display power and an ability to move quickly as one of the Twins couple solid 3rd base prospects going 2-5 with a double and his 5th homerun. Outfielder Brandon Robertss who has been on the rehab track went 2-3 with a pair of singles and a walk. Kyle Aselton got the start going six solid innings allowing just six baserunners on two hits and four walks while striking out a pair and allowing his lone run on a solo shot by the rehabbing Victor Martinez. Reliever Jose Mijares pitched another scoreless frame in the 8th to help close the game out.

Down in Flordia, the Mircale took on the Sarasota Reds and laid down and offensive beat-down pounding out 16 hits and drawing three walks to plate 15 runs. Most of the damage was done early against Sarasota starter Rafael Gonzalez and reliever Logan Ondrusek. By the time the fifth inning was closed out the Twins had scored 14 times, helped by Juan Portes who went 1-2 with a homerun and walk. The offense was led by a heart-of-the-order comprised of Steven Singleton who went 4-5 with a pair of doubles, Daniel Berg who went 3-6 with a triple, and first baseman Johnny Woodward who went 3-4 with a homerun and walk. Shortstop Garrett Olson and catcher Danny Lehmann each chipped in by going 2-5 with a double. On the bump for the Miracle was Matthew Fox who pitched seven shutout innings allowing six hits and a pair of walks while striking out six and pushing his record to 7-6. 2008 first rounder Carlos Gutierrez came in and pitched a scoreless frame, walking one.

Beloit squared off against the Cedar Rapids Kernels this afternoon, eventually succumbing in 13 innings. The Kernels were paced by seven innings of brilliant relief by their bullpen which was closed out by three great innings from 22 year old lefty Naldy Calderon who struck out three. On the mound for the Snappers was Michael McCardlell who struck out eight in just five innings, allowing four runs, two earned, on seven hits and a pair of walks. Ben Revere singled and tripled in his six at-bats, and left fielder Andrew Schmiesing, and third baseman Chris Cates both had a pair of singles. Catcher Greg Yersich had three hits, all singles.

Both the E-Twins and the GCL club had the day off which I'm sure the players appreciated.

Baseball Intellect on Angel Morales

Corey Ettinger — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 08:14:49 -0000

Baseball Intellect on Angel Morales

One of my personal favorite sites, Baseball Intellect, has a nice breakdown of our very own Angel Morales who is clearly beginning to turn heads on a national level. I'm not certain if this has been reported on this site, but if not, I thought it'd be of interest to some folks.

MiLB Notes 8-16-08

Corey Ettinger — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 05:53:12 -0000

Down in Rochester, Alejandro Machado is coming back to Earth a but his last few games, with just four hits in his last twenty one at-bats with six strikeouts. Nothing major, and nothing unexpected either. Luke Hughes had a hit game going 2-3 with a double and his third homerun. Its a new level but he just keeps on hitting. Matt Marci homered for the 4th time in as many games. Bobby Korecky picked up his 23rd save with 1.2 scoreless innings.

Down at New Britain third base prospect Danny Valencia went 1-4 with his 4th homerun. Dave Winfree also hit his 17th. Winfree at this point however isn't much of a prospect anymore. On the bump Jeff Manship went five innings, striking out five while allowing just one walk and seven hits. One of his better starts at that level where he has mostly struggled thus far.

Not much of note to report from Ft. Myers, but Anthony Slama pitched, allowing a run on three hits and a walk while striking out three to bring his ERA over 1.00 for the first time this year. Catching prospect Wilson Ramos went 1-4.

At Beloit, Ben Revere went 1-5 with a single, after spending most of the year above .400, his average has dipped to a more reasonable .380. On the mound 1st round pick Shooter Hunt went six innings striking out seven while allowing just three hits. However he continues to struggle with his control, walking three more batters. Hunt has the stuff to miss bats, but he's going to have to work hard on his control to make the leap. Hopefully he can figure that out next year as this season is almost over.

The GCL Twins squared off today against the Red Sox club and 1st rounder Aaron hicks went 1-5 with a double and a pair of strikeouts. He's now hitting .303. The biggest plus in my opinion is his 25BB/29K ratio. I figured that would be his greatest hurdle, but at least thus far, he's shown a stron eye at the plate with the ability to develop power. Certainly looks like a raw five tooler. It'll be interesting to see if they start him at Beloit next year or Elizabethon. Second round shortstop Tyler Ladendorf continues to struggle with the bat going 0-4 and he's now hitting just .193.

At the Twins advanced rookie ball club Elizabethon, 18 year old center fielder Angel Morales continues to make a case for the Twins top center field prospect as he went 2-3 with two more homeruns. His hitting line is almost without flaw save for his 61K/24BB ratio. Of course thats concerning but you hope young kids can develop their grasp of the strikezone. Outside of that all he's done is hit .329/.431/.683 with 15 homeruns in just 167 at-bats. Amazing. At 6'1" 180 he isn't as tall as Gomez (6'4") or Hicks (6'2") but the power displayed has been nothing short of phenomenal. Though it should be noted the park they play in is definitely a big-time hitters park. That said, no one on the team is hitting like this kid is.

Howie Clark DFAed

Corey Ettinger — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:04:25 -0000

Howie Clark DFAed

Twins 2B/1B Howie Clark has been designated for assignment. Presuming he clears waivers, he'll return to the Red Wings in a few days. Clark had a nice little stay with the Twins, going 2-8 with a walk off hit.

Joba Chamberlain To Make First Start On Tuesday

Corey Ettinger — Fri, 30 May 2008 22:39:52 -0000

Joba Chamberlain To Make First Start On Tuesday

Again proving the notion that it isn't necessarily what team you play but when you play them, the Twins will narrowly miss having to be the team that opposes Joba Chamberlain for the first time as its just been announced that he will be making his first start on Tuesday against the Blue Jays. If thats true, then its likely that the Twins wont have to face the Yankees electic phenom at all during their four game series at the Metrodome.

Sometimes, fate smiles.

Livan's Trade Market Heats Up

Corey Ettinger — Fri, 30 May 2008 00:37:56 -0000

• I've been saying for a while now that the Twins would be wise to try and trade Livan Hernandez this summer. They probably have enough good young arms to contend with or without him, and letting him walk at the end of the season for nothing makes little sense when he could bring back a quality minor leaguer or two.

The counter-argument that I always get is that trading Livan when the team is in contention is tantamount to quitting. I couldn't disagree much more with that assessment, though in large part, that stems from a belief that you should never focus on any one season as a small/mid market team when you could do the organization a service in the long run. The Twins made this mistake last season - one where they were technically not 'out of it,' but didn't seem to have the horses to run with the Indians or Tigers. Indeed they didn't and trading Luis Castillo, a move decried both by fans and some players, made very little difference in the outcome of the season. That being the case, the Twins might have been well served to try and trade off some other veterans (Silva and Hunter) who they saw leave via free agency for either nothing, or the relative pittance of a couple draft picks.

In not trading Hernanez, its this mans belief they'd only be repeating the mistakes of the past.

In that vein, Buster Olney writes;

"It makes all the sense in the world for the Twins to explore this: In a season in which there is little available pitching, there will definitely be a market for someone like Hernandez, who always battles and seems capable of throwing 250 pitches. One team that could use him: the Atlanta Braves, who have been asking around about starting pitching."

Shocking *sarcasm* mostly because I have been pitching the idea of a swap for Braves third base/shortstop prospect Brent Lillibridge since about the same time the season began. Lillibridge isn't an all-star in the making, but he's a guy the Twins could use at third or short for the next 5 years almost immediately. Besides, Livan doesn't have enough value to bring in any top-end prospects, but Lillibridge is the perfect fit. Olney also cites the Astros as a possible landing spot for Livan. I hadn't given the Astros much thought heading into this year due to their status as unlikely to contend, but here we are, and they're contenders. The same could be said about the Cardinals, though they have received very good pitching so far this year, despite having an unimpressive rotation on paper.

As far as the Astros are concerned, the Twins would likely take aim at players such as 24 year old third baseman Chris Johnson, 22 year old right fielder Mitch Einerston, 23 year old starter Bud Norris, or reliever Ryan Thompson. Though frankly, I can't say any of those players strike me as capable of getting a deal done.