SB Nation User Blog: halfchest

The Young and the deal-less:

halfchest — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:22:19 -0000

The Young and the deal-less:

The Twins are out there hunting for bullpen depth and young middle infielders. It probably won't come as a shock that they're letting teams know the enigmatic Delmon Young is exceptionally available.

This is really the only Twins tidbit but still, it's interesting/good to see that they're looking to cut bait on Young. I'd be willing to be this is why they've been playing him as much as they have hoping he'll improve. He has a bit with his recent hitting streak hopefully he can have a decent month to improve his value.

Brandon Marshall Asking to be Traded

halfchest — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:45:02 -0000

Brandon Marshall Asking to be Traded

If the Cutler trade hadn't happened I wouldn't believe this could happen. However, it wouldn't shock me one bit now and since the Percy Harvin pick I dont' even know if the Vikes would care about Marshall's past. That and Mr. Marshall is cheap for the next year but would likely want an extension immediately after being traded.

Game Thread May 1st, 2009

halfchest — Fri, 01 May 2009 22:46:30 -0000

Lineups courtesy of the star trib. I'm a little bummed that Mauer is batting third I was hoping for a 1 2 3 of Span, Mauer, Morneau. Then again who cares, he's finally back.

Royals (12-10)

1. Coco Crisp, CF
2. David DeJesus, LF
3. Mark Teahen, 3B
4. Jose Guillen, RF
5. Billy Butler, 1B
6. Mike Jacobs, DH
7. Alberto Callaspo, 2B
8. Miguel Olivo, C
9. Mike Aviles, SS

Pitching: Sidney Ponson

Now…..for the lineup you’ve all been waiting for…….

Twins (11-11)

1. Denard Span, LF
2. Alexi Casilla, 2B
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Jason Kubel, DH
6. Michael Cuddyer, RF
7. Brendan Harris, 3B
8. Carlos Gomez, CF
9. Nick Punto, SS

Pitching: Kevin Slowey

Another Cutler story

halfchest — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:36:39 -0000

Here it is

I've been pretty doubtful of any Cutler trade but it seems more likely the more I hear of him not wanting to even talk with the Broncos coaches. I'm not going to get my hopes up but well I am going to at least believe there's a chance of this happening. If we were to somehow get Cutler and add a moderate upgrade at reciever (Coles, Moore, etc.) we'd really be set up to be a top flight offense. Anyhow, mainly just posting this to link to the story in the trib.

Santana and his Elbow

halfchest — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:57:20 -0000

I've noticed a few small articles about this around the internet and while it's likely nothing as Twins fans and the recent history with "elbow stiffness" I'd be real nervous as a Mets fan. The Santana trade might start to look even smarter if this does turn out to be a serious injury. I would never wish an injury on anyone, well other than John Rocker and A.J., um and other various white sox haha. What I'm saying is I hope it's nothing but it'll be an interesting situation to watch as I know Santana's possible injury was heavily discussed in the Twins blogosphere last year around this time.

Hanley Ramirez a Twin???

halfchest — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 05:35:53 -0000

I know I know, not gonna happen right? I agree, there is almost no way this could work out but after seeing this article I thought why not the Twins. He plays at a position of need for the Twins and is signed through 2014. I am of the opinion that the Twins should strike while the iron is hot and try to build a team around the M and M boys and this young pitching staff that can truly compete for a title. A guy like Hanley Ramirez would do just that but he would not come cheap. What would the Twins be willing to give up that could possibly land him? Probably not enough but I think a package starting with either Slowey or Baker, then you put in at least two other top pitching prospects like Manship/Swarzak/Robertson and then for good measure figure you've got to add a guy like Ben Revere or Wilson Ramos and possibly one more decent prospect in there.

Yes I realize this would gut our system but only in the areas that we have plenty of depth at. All of our starters have at least 5 more years of team control. Combine that with the abundance of other major league ready capable starters in Mulvey/Humber/Bonser etc. we should be able to have one or two of those guys step it up and replace whoever we lose from the rotation. While we would likely drop off in our starting pitching quality some we would improve dramatically offensively. We also have 3 young major league ready outfielders in Young, Gomez, and Span that will be under team control for 4 or 5 years each.

So what would it take. I think a package I would start with to let them know the Twins are serious would be something like Slowey/Revere/Manship/Robertson. I would definitely consider switching in Span, Young, or Baker if need be and to be honest I would even think the Twins would have to consider Liriano being part of the package if it let them downgrade the prospects included significantly.

Like I said before, I know not gonna happen right? Well probably not but damn I would love to see Bill Smith take a shot.

Neshek to have Tommy John surgery

halfchest — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:42:15 -0000

According to Sethspeaks it sounds like Neshek is out for 2009 after electing to have Tommy John surgery. After yesterdays announcement of a setback I think we all saw this coming to some degree.

So now where is our bullpen for 2009?

Nathan
Crain
Guerrier
Breslow
Mijares
Bonser
Humber

That's who as of today I could see being in there barring any trades or signings. I don't know what to think of this group. To be honest maybe I overvalue these guys but I still don't think this group will do half bad if managed correctly. I think Crain will do better after having another year back. Breslow was solid and Mijares sure performed well in the short time he was up. I'd be more than ok with the Twins picking up a late inning guy but who? I wouldnt want us to spend a lot of money or give up great prospects for bullpen help. Could Delaney or Slama make a big jump and help us out next year? Or possibly someone like Swarzak or Duensing, maybe Mulvey?

This is a very random posting that is just throwing ideas out there to get some conversation started. I was a bit nervous to count on Neshek to be himself next year anyhow but I am confident that the guys we have can rebound and do better next year. The biggest question is whether it will be good enough. what do you guys think?

Saturday to have MRI

halfchest — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:21:32 -0000

I just noticed on Sportscenter that Jeff Saturday is scheduled to have an MRI today. ESPN said that he (Jeff) didn't think it was that bad of an injury. Hopefully he's right, that would be a pretty awful injury but then again, it's not like we haven't dealt with them in the past.

I didn't get a chance to watch much of the game last night so I didn't see the injury take place. Anyone else notice it?

Chad Bradford

halfchest — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 22:16:24 -0000

Word is on mlbtraderumors.com that Chad Bradford was claimed on waivers by the Rays for the infamous player to be named later.

This really pisses me off because the Twins could have easily done this same thing. Bradford might not be the best guy out there but with the way our bullpen has been replacing Bass or Bonser with a guy like Bradford would really help this team. He's a guy we could throw out there in the 7th or even the 8th as needed and would probably give us a good result. All year he's only given up more than one run in an appearance once and that was only 2 runs. He doesn't strike a lot of guys out but he also doesn't walk many or give up homeruns (2 all year).

His biggest drawback might be that he's under contract for next year at a little over 3 million but still. If I remember right he was the Orioles setup guy last year so he has experience late in games and if I remember right he did a pretty good job. While not the ideal guy it seems like he would have been well worth the PTBNL and a commitment of one more year to him. If he performs he could just be a great trade piece for the offseason or give us insurance in the case that Neshek isn't able to return to form next year.

Either way, I can't believe this guy made it all the way to the Rays through waivers. There must be something bad about him I'm not seeing. Someone please explain.

span SPAN! Span?

halfchest — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 05:32:21 -0000

Seriously, what are the Twins going to do with Span? A better question might be what are the Twins gonna do with Gomez? I like Gomez's defensive capabilities and his ability to fly around the bases (although he seems to have lost his nerve/ability to steal lately), but really I think we all know now that Span would be little or no drop off defensively and an incredible improvement offensively. Do the Twins send Gomez down? probably not because we won't be hurting his development by having him be more of a bench player and he's a valuable pinch runner/ defensive replacement as needed. I think with the rationality the Twins have been showing by cutting dead weight they just might make the decision to bench Gomez.

The big problem as we all know is that Cuddyer will be coming back hopefully by the end of the week and that leaves us with and extra outfielder. IMO Gomez has to be the odd man out, it is really the only move that makes sense unless Cuddyer comes back and immediately slumps. Gomez has a line of .406/.424/.438 since being moved to #9 in the batting order so he has been effective there and maybe the move has helped him relax a bit at the plate. It is a very small sample size and given a choice I'd much rather see Cuddyer behind the plate than Gomez.

So what should the Twins do now?

Bench Gomez, when we're facing a tough lefty start Cuddy at DH, slide Gomez back to right and start Gomez in center. Gomez will also be used to give Span and Young breaks as needed.,

As far as the batting order that will have to be fluid we have our first 4 fairly set up in Span, Punto, Mauer, Morneau. Gomez should still bat 9th when playing and Cuddyer will probably bat somewhere from 5th to 7th when he's playing.

Roster moves? I say we get rid of Bass. Bonser can do what Bass has been doing to the same effectiveness and I'd much rather have Bonser coming in when our bullpen is depleted than Bass. Bonser just plain is a better pitcher statistics be damned. Plus Bass will probably pass through waivers better than Bonser would so it just seems like the right move at this time. If our bullpen starts to get burnt out we could bring another reliever up from AAA. I'd like to keep Ruiz as a right handed option off the bench and see what he might be able to do here and there playing DH. I know we've talked about some of this stuff lately but it will be a very interesting weekend to see what the Twins do. If they stop having Span play daily they're foolish especially after the day he had today and I just can't see it happening.

So, agree disagree? What do you think the Twins should do? Or maybe more importantly what will they do?