I'm not going to put a ton of content in this article.  Mostly just looking for some conversation regarding the topic as it's come back up again via Joe C. at the Strib.

Ryan's reluctant to trade Span, but the Nationals might Beg

I was one of the many very against giving up Span this past trade deadline, especially for just a reliever (even if it's a great reliever).  However with the idea that the Nationals might "beg" for him makes me think well, maybe this is an AJ to the Giants all over again.  With Terry Ryan at the helm I'm much more confident that the Twins can win some trades again.

I assume a centerpiece will once again be either Tyler Clippard or Drew Storen.  They're both strikeout young right handed relievers.  At first I thought I liked Clippard more due to his K rates (over 10 per 9 IP)  Then I saw that he's thrown damn near 90 innings the past two years and is eligible for free agency one year ahead of Storen.  So I'm kinda leaning Storen if I had the choice.

Then they have their middle infielders that we have talked about Lombardozzi, Espinosa, and Ian Desmond.  I like Espinosa best of the 3 but that's just my opinion.

What else do the Nationals have that the Twins might target.  Any young starting pitching that would be worth it?

So I'm not for trading Span but if they're begging the Twins should listen if there's one area the Twins can afford to sell on it's outfielders.

In my perfect world, the Twins go get Storen and Espinosa for Span.

While pondering what the Twins will do as the trade deadline approaches I've convinced myself that Ubaldo Jiminez is the perfect trade target for the Twins. He's young, affordable, and by most accounts available on some level.

Whether it's the stock market or professional sports it's obviously best to buy low and sell high.  Well if there was ever a guy to buy low on it's Ubaldo Jiminez.  A year ago people were talking about him finishing the year with a sub 2.00 ERA and he pitched the first two months of the season with a sub 1.00 ERA.  Even when he came back to earth he would've been considered among the most untouchable players in baseball this past off season especially when you consider his team friendly contract.  I believe the Twins should go after Ubaldo as it represents a move that isn't just for winning now but will help the team through 2013.

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I couldn't find the link but somewhere Gardy was quoted as saying they'd wait to use Mauer at 1B until there was an opportunity where they wanted Thome in the lineup but also wanted to give Joe a break.

Well tomorrow the Twins will be playing a day game after a night game against a 2nd straight right handed opponent.  That and Pavano is not starting which means there won't be a push for Butters.  The best part for me?  I'll be there in person so maybe . . . just maybe I'll get to witness the first major league start at 1B for Joe Mauer.  So what say you twinkietown?  What do you think the likelihood of a Mauer 1B start tomorrow is?

I'm just a lowly Twins fan looking for any advice on things to do in Milwaukee.  I'm planning to come with some friends for the series against the Twins in June.  I'm not trolling or anything just figured this would be the best source.

1.  Is there a good place to tailgate at?  Here in Minnesota we build our baseball parks in the middle of concrete jungles so tailgating doesn't happen.  I've heard good things about tailgating there just looking for any tips anyone has about where to park and where to tailgate.

2.  What else should I do while there?  We're only planning to go to the Friday game and then we're gonna go to a Beloit Snappers game on Saturday.  I think we're gonna hit up the Lakefront Brewery Saturday afternoon any other can't miss spots in Milwaukee?  Places to eat, whatever. 

I think that's really it, if anyone can recommend a good campground near milwaukee that would be great.  I think I found a place that will work out but haven't made reservations yet.  If someone knows of a good cheap place I'd appreciate the tip.

Thanks for any info.

I was surprised we didn't already have a thread going.  Anyhow here's a rundown of the Twins picks thus far

1st round Levi Micheal   SS North Carolina

Supplemental Travis Harrison Prep 3B  ,  Boyd Hudson Prep RHP

2ndRound  Madison Boer RHP from Oregon

3rd Round  Corey Williams LHP from Vanderbilt

4th Round  Matt Summers RHP University of California - Irvine

5th Round Taylor Grimes SS Wichita

6th Round Ivan Rodriguez (Jr.)  Prep CF (yes he's Ivan's son apparently goes by Derrek)

7th Round Steven Gruver LHP Tennessee

8th Round Jason Wheeler LHP Loyola Marimount

9th Round SS Adam Byrant Troy

So far so good.  I'll admit I know very little about HS and College players.  So far I'm liking the Twins breaking from the mold early in the draft but still loading up on some College pitchers after the first few rounds.  Apparently Ivan can pitch as well in the mid 90's even.  So who knows what they're planning with him.

The Twins knew coming into this season that they had major question marks in the bullpen, the middle infield and at the backup catching position. This is admittedly a hindsight's 20/20 post but these moves aren't that far fetched and the weaknesses they address were known before the year started and pointed out by many of us during the off season.

1.  Offer Jon Rauch arbitration.  I do this assuming he accepts or the Twins work out a deal similar to his deal with Toronto.  So basically the Twins sign Jon Rauch for 1 year 3.75 Million.  It's amazing how one more good arm can improve a bullpen drastically just by putting guys that have no business in high leverage roles out of them.

2.  Go after either Mike Napoli or Russell Martin via trade.  The Twins knew Mauer was coming off of knee surgery and should have known that Butera is not an answer long term at Catcher if Mauer misses time.  It's almost a given that at some point Mauer will miss a few weeks as a Catcher and having a better option than Butera is a must for a team with Championship aspirations.  

Both Martin and Napoli are right handed which makes them a nice complement to our 3 best hitters in any platoon type of situation.  Napoli especially is capable of being a DH and playing 1B.  Martin has played a handful of games at 3B over his career which makes me think he could've been given reps and assumed a position to backup 1B as well.  I was hoping for the Twins to pick up Martin before his resurgence so this is in no way a reaction to his strong start to 2011.  The Twins likely wouldn't have gotten him in FA as he was getting a shot at a starting gig in New York and was smart to take it.  However, he could have likely been had for a marginal to non-prospect as he was DFA'd by the Dodger.  The negative is that the Twins would have had to pay him more via arbitration than the 4 million he got from the Yanks.  I'd guess that he'd be getting paid 5.5 million had this scenario played out.

Mike Napoli was acquired for Frank Francisco.  The Twins really don't have a comparable guy to trade and if the Blue Jays were intent on getting a strikeout veteran reliever the Twins didn't really have anyone to offer.  I have to believe they could have worked something out though.  Napoli would have cost more in prospects but was less of a risk as he was coming off of good seasons where Martin had two rough ones prior to 2011.  Napoli also has recent experience playing 1B which gave the Twins a nice backup plan for Morneau and a good guy to give him days off.  Napoli ended up getting 5.8 million via arbitration this past off season.

Martin is younger with generally better OBP and defense at the Catcher postion where as Napoli brings a guy with more power that can also play 1B adequately.  Martin also costs less in prospects.  It's kind of a toss up, I would have rather had Martin because of his upside and I like buying low.

3.  Carl Pavano gets swept off his feet by another team.  This also isn't a knee jerk reaction to his rough start to the season.  I along with pretty much everyone else was happy with Pavano's contract and to be honest still believe it will be a positive signing when all's said and done.  I don't regret it based on an up and down first 6 weeks.  However this is the only place I could see the money coming from to sign the two aforementioned players.  It also would have given the Twins two more picks in what is being touted as a very good draft.  Slowey could have stepped up in a starters role and Gibson/Swarzak/Manship all were capable of being spot starters if someone went down injured.

4. The MI:  Really, I have no answer, this team has too much money tied up to fill all the holes and this was one area where they had to trust some combo of Nishioka, Casilla, Plouffe, Hughes, Tolbert to figure it out.  The Nishioka injury has highlighted how bad this unit is, had he stayed healthy it might not be as big of a concern as it is today.  The JJ Hardy trade had to happen for the other moves I mentioned to happen as it also got rid of Harris's contract. 

I realize these moves wouldn't have saved the season.  They likely would have given the Twins a better record at this point and put them in a much better position to take the division back as the rest of the team gets healthy. 

Lastly here's a poll for backup catching options if we lived in a world where we could go back in time.

So I started writing this last week after the first game of the Tigers series.  At that point it was focused on discussing at what point do the Twins start looking towards 2012.  I know four games shouldn't mean much but I'm very close to saying the time is now.  I still have some hope for a turn around but it's fading fast. We're beyond a slow start at this point with almost 1/4 of the season gone.  Things are bad and there are no signs of a big turnaround coming anytime soon.

While watching the Twins I have come the earth shattering conclusion that there's just too many problems to fix.  There aren't exactly a ton of great free agents available to help and there aren't many teams ready to trade away useful players at this point in the season.  The only way this ship gets righted is from in house.  Players need to stop slumping, get healthy, and just play better baseball.  Easier said than done.

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So I had to work yesterday and am currently watching the game on DVR.  It's so great to watch baseball again first and foremost.  It's been even more fun to watch the Twins kick some butt even if it was against the Marlins scrubs.

I'm writing this because after seeing Hughes play SS for the 2nd half of the game I'm wondering if the Twins are seriously considering him for the utility IF spot.  Are the Twins comfortable with him playing SS in a pinch?  Are they ok with the possibility of Nishioka sliding over and covering SS if the need arises?  I'm definitely going to be watching the box scores the next couple weeks to see if Hughes gets any more chances at SS or if they give Nishi some innings there.  It would suddenly make the bench so much better and I wouldn't feel as bad giving the starting infielders a few extra days off if we knew that Hughes was stepping in.  So now that he's had part of a game at SS the Twins have tried him everywhere but pitcher, catcher, and center field.  

It's also the fact that Gardy has multiple times made comments about how much he likes Hughes.  This kind of man love is usually reserved for scrappy middle infielders and washed up veteran starting pitchers.  The fact that Gardy actually is making quotes like this about a rookie status guy who can swing the bat and would fit very well on this team is worth noting. 

The last thought on Luke Hughes is his defense, how bad is it?  or how good is it?  It seems like last year we were discussing Valencia and many reports knocked his defense.  Well from what I saw and what the statistics show he more than held his own.  Is Luke Hughes going to be that good?  probably not.  However could it be that his defense will be better than advertised.  Could he be solid at 2B and 3B and just not terrible at SS?  I just wonder who would a team use more often.  A guy like Hughes that can come off the bench and give the team some pop as a right handed pinch hitting option, or would you rather have Tolbert who isn't really a defensive replacement even as he's not much/if any better than Nishi or Casilla.  He's basically a guy who could give the SS a day off every other week without much defensive drop off.   Tolbert is the better defender and probably is so at all 3 positions.  However, I wonder how much better at least at 2B and 3B.  I don't think any of our MI will be lacking defensively to the point that you bring in Tolbert as a defensive replacement with the lead, however I could see where pinch hitting Luke Hughes for Drew Butera, Casilla, Repko, Nishi, or even Kubel against a tough lefty would make sense.  

It's pretty obvious that I'd like Hughes to be on the 25 man roster however I'm sure some value Tolberts defensive ability more that Hughes offensive ability.  What do others think?

So while commenting with the White Sux fans I was commenting on the money they have coming off the books.  Then I looked at our own team and realized holy crap, we have a lot of money coming off the books next year as well.

Nathan (11.25 M)
Cuddyer (10.5 M)
Kubel (5.25 M)
Capps (6 M) estimate
Hardy (6 M) estimate
Harris (1.75 M)
Punto (.5 M)  payout for not taking his option this year, every little bit counts.

That's 40.75 34.75 million coming off the books following 2011.  Baker will get a 1.75 million raise, Baker a 2 million  raise, along with arbitrations raises for multiple players like Young and Liriano.  I would think at most the arbitration raises and buyouts come to maybe 15 million.

So what I'm proposing is that the Twins just ride this year out with the current roster basically and possibly add some one year contracts such as Thome.  I would consider a two year deal for Pavano but I'd rather just skip it and see what we've got.

The way I see it we can go with a current everyday lineup of

Span
Nishioka/Valencia
Mauer
Morneau
Young
Kubel
Cuddyer
Hardy  Casilla
Nishioka/Valencia

Bench of

Casilla
Repko
Thome (or other DH option, preferably right handed one year contract)
Morales/Butera

So the lineup is pretty much the same one that was very good last season, right?

Rotation

Liriano
Baker
Slowey
Duensing
Blackburn

Waiting in the wings we'd have Manship, Swarzak, Bromberg, and Gibson in no particular order.  Not exciting and even a bit scary if an injury occurs early but good enough.  Late in the year hopefully Gibson could show up but there is more to this plan.

The Bullpen Options

Nathan
Capps
Mijares
Neshek
Slama
Waldrop
Delaney
Burnett
Gutierrez
Bullock
Manship

So we have a lot of options in the bullpen.  Bullock and Gutierrez probably need a bit more time but the others should be ready for their shot.  I think the Twins need to see what they have with Slama, Burnett, and Waldrop especially need to just get their shot and see if they're worth it.  We can see if Neshek can come back to form and if Mijares can be a bit more consistent.

This will give the Twins a chance to really know what they have to work with for the future and can hopefully set themselves up well.  I'm not suggesting throwing away this coming season as offensively we'll be the same lineup.  Pitching we will only miss out on Pavano and our bullpen has a lot of decent options.  I realize this is risky but we've seen before that a bullpen can be worked on mid season pretty easily.

As far as the rotation goes, we saw this past season that the Twins were willing to bid on Cliff Lee halfway through the season.  I suggest we start out with the guys we have and then be prepared to upgrade mid season if needed.  I wouldn't mind one of those one year signings being a guy like Brandon Webb, or Harden which would add yet another option to the bullpen.  

In closing this could set the Twins up to be major players in next years free agent market or to pull a blockbuster trade where money is not an issue.  The Twins could likely afford to get some luxury items to fill out the bench rather than spending over 20 million on a mediocre outfielder (Cuddy) and an injured closer.  So as boring as it might be, I'm suggesting the Twins just play it cool and wait til mid season.  If the team is healthy and appears capable of a run then see what's available for trade and make our move.

Figured we could use a place to chat about the non-tendered players from around the league and how they could possibly fit into the Twins plans.

So far at MLBTRADERUMORS it's been reported that Zach Miner, Jose Lopez, and HIdeki Okajima will all be non-tendered.

Depending on how our MI shakes out Jose Lopez might be a nice addition as a right handed bench bat/utility infielder.  He doesn't get on base at a very good cllip but he also doesn't strike out much and has some pop.  He's coming off a bad year so he may be nice and cheap.

I'll try to update this as I get the chance today.  Please feel free to add players in the comments or any admins to update the post.  This may be a lame post if there's no one interesting non-tendered, thought it might lead to some fun discussion if there is.

UPDATE:  Noonish

• Diamondbacks: Blaine Boyer, D.J. Carrasco, Ryan Church, Augie Ojeda
• Padres: Tony Gwynn, Scott Hairston

Nothing too exciting yet . . . I used to think Ryan Church would make a nice 4th outfielder . . then 2010 happened.

Oh that and the Royals suck cuz they won't trade Greinke in the division.  Not that it was gonna happen anyhow but it still sucks that we can't even hope for it.

Figured it was time to start another one.

Today's big topics include arbitration offers and Victor Martinez going to Detroit for 4 years/50 million.  Seems a bit much if they plan to primarily DH him, just me.  Because of Alex Avila being in Detroit it sounds like he'll DH and back up 1B and C.  I'm hoping Detroit keeps signing aging stars so they'll be in a world of hurt financially in a couple years.  I'm only typing this garbage to get to the minimum word limit.

So it seems a forgone conclusion in most people's minds that the Twins are going to offer Capps arbitration.  It also seems forgone to most that this is a bad decision or in some peoples minds the worst decision ever.  Now I realize most, if not all of these people are much more informed than me when it comes to baseball players, etc.  However I just fail to see the logic in non-tendering Capps.

I have seen this topic mentioned often and most seem to feel the right decision is to let Capps walk for nothing.  Most recently by Twinsgeek. He especially seems to feel this would be a drastic mistake. 

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Well since most are pretty positive that Justin Upton will not be traded I'm curious what people think of the other Upton and the chances of him being dealt are.  Was he ever considered to be on par with his brother?  BJ's age 22 and 23 seasons are pretty comparable to Justin's 21 and 22 seasons.  Is it fair to say that BJ Upton is a better defender as he plays CF vs. RF?  Justin was the #1 pick and BJ was the #2 pick, so initial interest was quite similar.  Obviously BJ could be had for much less at this point and only has 2 years of control left versus the 5 years of control with Justin. 

So what's the chances he could be moved and what would it take for inquiring teams to have a shot?

I'm really not good at these proposals as I struggle to not overvalue my own teams prospects a bit much but would a deal centered around a guy like Ben Revere, Joe Benson, or maybe a David Bromberg be a good starting point?  Upton would sure help the Twins improve their outfield defense and if they got Delmon Young to be a little more patient maybe they can work on BJ too.

So I'm not sure why but the Brewers are apparently willing to deal Brett according to MLBTRADERUMORS.

Are the Brewers just really heavy with middle infielders?  I know they have Weeks but only for one more year, but have no idea about what else they have waiting in the minor leagues.  So it seems odd that they would put up Lawrie for pitching help.  I'm wondering what it would take to get a deal done?  Would they want one of our current starters like Baker or Slowey?  Would Slowey/Baker plus a prospect get it done and would it be worth it?  I would hope the Twins might at least explore their options as Lawrie could be a long term answer at 2B beginning sometime next season or maybe in 2012.  So I'm just curious what others think it would take to get Lawrie and would it be too much. 

Would a package centered around 1 of Baker/Slowey and Bromberg be enough? or close to enough?  Of course the Twins would have to figure something out to replace the lost spot in the rotation.  Because of this I'd favor trading Baker because of the monetary savings and how this might translate to being able to either re-sign Pavano, make a play for Jorge De La Rosa, or a trade for a starting pitcher.  That's for another post however, but there are options.  I'm just looking at the Twins lack of minor league depth in the middle infield and think having a guy like Lawrie to lock up one spot at an affordable rate for the next few years could be extremely beneficial and help the Twins to retain their other talent.

Also in case you're not familiar with Lawrie here's a link for information on him at baseball-reference.

I've already read quite a few good plans for the Twins, mine would have likely been a mashup of bits and pieces of others.  Instead I just present a few small ideas that could help the Twins this year.

1.  To save money you must spend money.

For many, or actually 2 reasons this is a bit of a tight year financially for the Twins.  Those reasons are Cuddyer and Nathan.  I think both contracts will be quite hard to move.  Nathan's because of injury and Cuddyers because of a poor year offensively, post season surgery, and the fact that he's a fan favorite.

Getting to the point I think the Twins might be well served to sign a few guys to longer term deals in order to save some money in 2011.

JJ Hardy 3 years 17 million.  5, 6.5, 7.5
Delmon Young 4 year 22 million 4, 5.5, 6.5 ,8
Micheal Cuddyer 2 years 17 million (8, 9) plus a 3rd year 9 million vesting option.
Matt Capps 3 year 18 million 5, 6, 7

Now let me be the first to say that doing all of these deals would be a poor decision as the Twins would lock themselves into several contracts that could potentially hamstring them in 2013 and/or 2014. The numbers may not be spot on but the point stands that by locking 2 or 3 guys into multi year deals that are backloaded the Twins can save a bit for this year.  Now of course only do this with guys that you think will be worth the money you'll be paying them in a year or two or you'll find yourself in the exact same situation the Twins are in right now.

2.  Sign Matt Capps . . . at the very least please don't non-tender him.

I honestly don't understand why so many are suggesting to non-tender Matt Capps.  You're right, he's not Nathan, he's not Mariano.  He is however a damn fine pitcher who by baseball standards is just entering his prime years.  At least I hear that jargon here often in regards to players being in their prime in the 26-29 years roughly.  He's a great insurance policy for the Twins and it seems most are in favor of cutting him solely because they're afraid he'll take money away from other areas on the roster.  A 2 - 3 year deal where he only makes between 4-5 million this year makes a lot of sense IMO.  If the Twins are confident they can offer arb and get him for under 5 then I'm probably more in favor of that.  If scenario 2 plays out and he ends up the Twins closer most of this year then we offer arb again because he's likely a type A and at the very least nets us a couple of draft picks next year.  I don't understand how he has in any way decreased his value since we traded one of our top prospects for him in July.  At the very least offer him arb and trade him for something.  Non-tendering just seems irrational.

3a.  Trade Delmon?

Last year he would have been brought up in plenty of offers as one of the "here take our trash for your treasure" trade scenarios that are always presented in comments section on this blog. This is not a slam to anyone as I'm sure I've been guilty of this too.  Now, Delmon has some value.  He's affordable and has some power.  In some scenario's he's exactly what we need on our team but if he could bring back the right piece he's worth dangling.  I have no idea what to suggest as far as what we might get for him or who we could package him with but now may be the time to make that offer.  As I said before trading Cuddyer or Nathan is going to be very tough to get anything with their contract, performance, and recent injuries.  Kubel might make more sense but who's valued more to other teams?  I tend to think at this point it may be Delmon Young. 

3b.  Find a cheap right handed bat to platoon with Kubel at DH.

Ideally we find a right handed version of Jim Thome.  Who is that?  Thames? Troy Glaus? Ty Wiggington?  or maybe just Delmon/Cuddy again.  I guess the point would be to keep Kubel as our 4th OF and have him platoon DH and fill in from time to time in the outfield.  If the trade of Delmon were to happen then my hope would be that the Twins find a more defensive minded outfielder to replace him.

When it comes down to it my plan really revolves around 2 things.

1.  Improve the outfield defense while not losing too much on the offensive side of the ball.

2.  Keep the bullpen as strong as possible by keeping Capps and Crain.  Then hoping that Neshek and Nathan can return to dominance and a couple minor leaguers can make a name for themselves.  I really hope we get to see decent looks at most of the following, Burnett, Slama, Waldrop, Gutierrez, and especially Billy Bullock.  Hopefully if 2 or 3 of those guys turn out we've got our next wave of talented cheap bullpen specialists just a step away.

Just felt like fiddling and  guessing at the playoff roster wanted to see what others thought.

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While Cliff Lee seems almost a sure thing to be traded this year and the Twins are almost surely to be in the mix, Dan Haren's name has been tossed out on more than one occasion as possibly becoming available.  The question really comes down to who would you want more and what would it take to get them? 

(Much more must-read discussion under the jump.)

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It's hard to slam the Twins bullpen in fact, if you look at the bullpen it looks pretty damn elite with 5 sub 3 ERA's (Rauch, Burnett, Mijares, Guerrier, Duensing)  and two of those even being sub 2 ERA's (Duensing and Guerrier).

Then there's Crain and Mahay.  I realize Crain has been much better and got screwed his most recent outing tonight by horrible errors.  Mahay is in my mind in a way just a roster filler, veteran who if Neshek had stayed healthy or if Mijares hadn't sucked initially would likely have been stashed at AAA for most of the season. 

So while Crain may not deserve the hate, he doesn't deserve a whole lot of love either.  He's been inconsistent over the past 2 years and I believe it's time to cut and run, especially when you have two, three if you count Neshek, enticing replacements sitting at AAA.

So i propose putting Alexi Casilla on the 60 day DL, and cutting Ron Mahay to make room for Waldrop and Slama on the 40 man and put em in the major league bullpen.  They don't have much anything left to prove in the minors and if one of them can make the step the Twins bullpen is great across the board.  Combine this with the fact that Neshek will hopefully be back and well, nuff said.

This has been more of a rant than anything.  I have been mostly patient with the Twins handling of Slama and Delaney.  Although it appears they may have been right to not put Delaney in the bigs as he's not looking so hot now I think it's about damn time Slama gets his shot and Waldrop has been great as well.

Thank you for reading my poorly written not edited rant.

I asked just a few weeks ago what people on here thought of Wilson Ramos trade value.  Mostly because Twins fans like other teams fans, tend to overrate their own prospects.  This includes me of course, I got as excited as any Twins fan when Ramos tore it up in 2 games, then he fell back to earth.

So now I'm asking what do people think about Kyle Gibson?  In my mind he's the Twins top prospect ahead of Aaron Hicks, Revere, Wilson Ramos, Sano, and anyone else in the system.  My reasoning is that he fell in the draft because of an injury and had he not been injured, likely would have been a top 10, maybe a top 5 pick.  He's done nothing but show he would have been worth the Twins selection and that some teams probably regret not taking the chance on him.

Ft Myers

4 - 1  43 1/3 IP in 7 starts 40 K  12 BB   1.87 ERA  and a 3.67 GO/AO ratio

New Britain

2 - 0 14 1/3 IP in 2 starts  16 K 2 BB    1.26 ERA  and a 4.0 GO/AO ratio

So my question is what do people think he's capable of?  Not so much when he'll be up as I believe because of his past injury he won't pitch this year in the bigs as the Twins will limit his overall innings.  However if he continues I thin he has a very good chance of taking a spot in the Twins rotation next year.  So do people think he's the real deal?  His groundball rate is great and he's getting close to a K per inning.  In addition it should be mentioned that in his 2nd AA start the only players to do much damage were current major league players as Mike Cameron and Jacoby Ellsbury were playing the outfield at that point.

There's been a lot of chatter on Twins sites about trading Wilson Ramos and what they could get for him.  As a fan it's hard to not overvalue your favorite teams prospects a bit here and there.  So I'm wondering what some realistic trade targets could be for the Twins from a community that isn't so Twins focused.  If I were the Twins GM I'd be keeping my eyes open for a starting pitcher with Ace upside in the high minors or a similarly blocked middle infielder of some sort.  Who's out there that would fit that mold though.  Is Ramos enough to get a top pitching prospect or might he have to be packaged to get someone like that.  What teams match up would a Ramos to Boston trade be smart for a guy like Bucholz?  I'm just not sure what he's truly worth and am not extremely familiar with other teams prospects and what they might need.  So I'm just looking for suggestions.