I just wanted to point out a few things about a few of our supporting players.  And some thoughts and questions?

Lets start with Luis Ayala. 

Before April 15th he pitched 6 innings gave up 12 hits 6 earned runs 1 homerun 1 walk and 4 k's.

since then he has pitched 181/3 innings giving up 20 hits 5 earned runs 6 bb and 11k's.  His ERA is 2.45 in that span.  With the exception of a few walks those last 181/3 innings mirror what he was like during his good years with Montreal.  He's a veteran who wants the ball so I don't buy that he can't handle higher level situations.  I think he may have just started the season out slower than he would have liked.  And for the statheads his WHIP is still 1.41 over the last 181/3 innings is a little high but for the 4th or 5th man out of the pen you could do a lot worse.

Delmon Young.  Sometimes his performance can be so frustrating.  He has all the talent and tools to probably dominate the game.  I am not going to justify most of his performance this season, but I will point out that he had been driving in runs at a decent clip before his leave of absence.  Now he is all messed up as his k numbers are going through the roof.  He needs to be put on the disabled list to clear his head then sent on a 20 day rehabilitation assignement in AAA to get his timing down.  I believe in him and he has been a good person since comming over from Tampa.  He deserves a chance to redeem himself.  But I think he needs more of a break.  I did read how Gardenhire did say Delmon doesn't like to talk about hitting mechanics and strategies.  If that is the case then he may just be a lost cause.  Does anyone know what his batting average with runners in scoring position was last year and this year before his bereavement?

Breslow seems to have turned his season around in Oakland..... Lucky for us Sean Henn has stepped in and done a credible job.  Our bullpen as it stands right now is solid except for Jesse Crain (7.88 ERA).  I haven't been able to watch him pitch but it looks like he is a little wilder this season.  Is fastball speed down? Injury?  Dead Arm?......?

Joe Nathan Closer 2.18 ERA 

Jose Mijares Set Up 2.60 ERA

Matt Guerrier Set Up 3.55 ERA

Luis Ayala Middle Reliever 2.45 ERA since 4-15

R.A. Dickey Middle/ Long 3.06 ERA and 1.69 ERA since May 1rst.

Henn LOOGY (Lefty One Out GuY) (actually he has pitched full innings up here) 2.57 ERA through today

To me it looks like we are one arm away from the bullpen as a strength again.

The bottom of the Twins line up.

If you put Delmon on the DL as previously suggested then that gives us the opportunity to bring up someone to help the offense in the interim.  Who gets the call?  Kubel and Gomez can handle the spot in the OF so we can bring up a MI or another position player to play DH  (Hughes, Valencia, Macri, Winfield, Tolleson.....) Put Harris at SS then the only holes in the lineup occure when Gomez is in CF and when 2B (Casilla and Tolbert) come to bat.

Thoughts? 

At what point does it make sense to go ahead and forgo next season's first round draft choice in exchange for a player who is a type a free agent who can play an important role for us. 

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=olney_buster&action=login&appRedirect=http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index%3fname%3dolney_buster

In this article Olney lists his all unimployed team but goes on to quote 2 GM's

I've got no money," an American League general manager said this week. "In fact, I would shed some dollars, if I could

 

and

 

Said an NL GM: "I'm tapped out. I've got almost nothing. I mean, I might have a $500,000 deal for the right veteran, but I'd have to get some approval

He also goes on to show what they Type A F.A. made last year, what they should have made with arbitration and if they have signed a contract now what is their 09 salary. (Scroll down to Jan 7th article on Compensation Purgatory) Looking over that list and seeing no action happening and seeing what Burrell among others have signed for in the last week or so I am now wondering, at what point does it make sense to forgo next years draft pick and get a bargin on a F.A. 

The F.A.'s that I am wondering about in particular:

Juan Cruz.  He wants to be a closer.  he made 1.9 million.  would be a great #2 reliever in our pen setting up Nathan.  Not saying he would sign off or not get a better offer, but would a 2 year 3.5-4.5 million with a 3rd option or even a 3 year 9 million be worth giving up a first round pick for?  He would go along way to making the bullpen a strength in a hurry.

We obviously don't need any starting pitching but a 2 year 10-12 million contract (total not per season) to Ben Sheets to allow us to trade Baker for Hardy? or Blackburn and a prospect or 2 to Seattle for Beltre.

Orlando Hudson 2B a 2 or 3 year 4-5 million per season, moves Casilla to SS and Punto to the bench.

I am not saying that these are the best moves or are likely but I see an opportunity for us to get better on paper for a little money and we can always trade these guys down the road for prospects.  The only downside I see is injury. 

At what point does it make sense to go ahead and forgo next season's first round draft choice in exchange for a player who is a type a free agent who can play an important role for us. 

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=olney_buster&action=login&appRedirect=http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index%3fname%3dolney_buster

In this article Olney lists his all unimployed team but goes on to quote 2 GM's

I've got no money," an American League general manager said this week. "In fact, I would shed some dollars, if I could

 

and

 

Said an NL GM: "I'm tapped out. I've got almost nothing. I mean, I might have a $500,000 deal for the right veteran, but I'd have to get some approval

With the offseason in full swing with the Winter Meetings Here are my thoughts on the team and what they are doing to improve.  As the winter unfolds I see more opportunities for the Twins as Chicago dumps salary in trades and retools, Cleveland hasn’t done much, Detroit just signed Everett to be their SS next year.  The Twins have a huge opportunity for next year and beyond. This piece was written with the future in mind as well as the present.

The Twins have cost control going for them.  All or their stars are signed long term to flat contracts, or frontloaded contracts.  The only are where the Twins could see their payroll spiking up over the next few years is Starting Pitching.  The Twins should be smart enough to sign any or all of Slowey, Baker, and or Liriano to 3-4 year contracts to give the players security and the team cost certainty.  Same with Kubel.  As the OF gets more expensive with experience, We will have a new wave of OF’s ready to contribute with Revere, Hicks, Morales, Martin, Parmelee, and more.  In addition to that the Twins have a new publicly funded stadium with more revenue streams readily available come 2010 I said all of that to say this.  The Twins are poised to be able to do whatever they want to do this offseason.  They Should have at least 20-25 million available for either a 3b or SS and a reliever and excess OF and pitching to trade.  Do I expect them to spend all of that ….NO…

With our available resources, I have to wonder why not go after Furcal.  It’s ok to overpay for a player once in a while.  The main objective is not to be handcuffed by that player.  We are set to be millions under budget for the foreseeable future.  Why not offer Furcal a 4 year 10-11million contract or a 3 year 36-37 million deal.  It makes sense to plug some of our holes with impact players.  Furcal is a good example in this depressed market.

On a smaller scale there is Casey Blake:  I agree that Casey Blake should be a 2 year plus option contract.  But, the market from the beginning was a 3 year deal.  In this depressed market, why not a 2 year 7 million deal with an option or a 500k to 1 million buyout.  That would be favorable to a 17 million 3 year deal Twinsgeek agrees with me to some extent on this.  If Casey Blake is the desired results for Twins management then losing Blake for 3 years and 17 million the Dodgers are offering is no excuse.

Punto:  I can see us resigning him in the 3 year 10-12 million range.

Relief pitching isn’t as bad as it seems the Twins have Bonser, Humber, and Swarzak (who I believe is a real sleeper to do well in the pen next year) to compete for spots in the pen after Nathan, Guerrier, Crain, Breslow, Mirjales.  In my mind I would like to see a proven setup man for the bridge to Nathan.  But which relievers are going to be a guarantee?    If the Phillies include Madsen with Donald for Young then great that would be close to a guarantee. I love the idea of trading Young for Donald and Madsen.  I would even include either Tolbert or Harris in the trade so Philadelphia can have their 2b insurance next year. 

Why do I like this trade idea?  This trade would give us a solid bullpen.! And look at what it does to our options.  We will have some serious prospects ready in the next year for the IF Hughes, Valencia, DONALD, Tolleson, and maybe Plouffe .  This allows us to get a one year player to hold 3b if need be.  All of a sudden a Ty Wigginton salary dump or better yet a Beltre acquisition seems good enough for next year along with resigning Punto for SS.

Now I am not a fan of trading Young.  I don’t see why we would even think of moving him or any OF until next summer.  Young has the potential to be the kind of bat (power hitting RH) that we are looking for.  I guess the Twins brass is fine with Kubel being able to go back to the OF in LF or RF if necessary and a roving DH if there is an injury.  I guess the “roving”  DH would be Harris or Buscher if we acquire a SS or 3B.  Trading Young also gives us 2 CF in Gomez and Span and allow us the option of keeping Pridie or at some point next year Martin as a backup OF. 

There are obviously other options to consider….Atkins for 2 years at 3b, Kouzmanoff, JJ. Hardy, Yunel Escobar……and the list goes on….

For note on Twinsgeek refer to last nights podcast with Seth.

Think of how much better the Twins would be if they acquired Hardy for one of their young starting pitchers and signed free agent Casey Blake to play third base.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8885188/Market-shaping-up-for-Adam-Dunn?CMP=OTC-K9B140813162&ATT=49

This is from an article where he is talking about the Brewers pitching options.

I wonder if he has heard anything to that affect.  Or if he is just speculating since they would both be a good match.