Trade Span or Trade Willingham?

Presuming there are equally reasonable offers for both: Who would you prefer to go and who to stay? I would vote to keep Span and trade Willingham, because of Denard's defense and reliable record as a leadoff hitter. Trading Willngham opens up left field for the weak armed but speedy Ben Revere. The Twins have Trevor Plouffe to provide power from the right side of the plate, Aaron Hicks may develop power as a switch hitter (he's showing some power in AA-Ball) and it's likely that a right handed power-DH will be available in future free agency.

Trade them both.

I know it would be a dick punch to the fans but neither player will be around when this team is ready to compete again. I'm not sold on Revere yet and who know would the hell could play LF but if teams are offering you the arms you need to rebuild this rotation, the Twins should hesitate moving either of these guys.

We've got plenty of prospects in the "speedy centerfield leadoff hitter" mold. We don't exactly have a huge stockpile of Mashers. Plus, Span DOES have a history of head issues, between the concussions and the weird inner-ear issue he had a few years ago, so there is no guarantee that he'll be a long-term solution. Right now we'd be selling pretty high on him.

Other things to consider:
Trading Willingham now sends a bad message to other FA's we want to attract. Basically, we're saying that if you perform well but the team struggles, we're going to send you out immediately. Why would anyone want to be in that situation? People like to play for a contender, but they also like to not switch teams every 5-6 months.

While Willingham could be replaced in the future through FA, Span can be replaced RIGHT NOW with in-house candidates. A whole lot easier to slide Revere over to Center than hope we get lucky finding another guy who can hit homers at Target Field.

Homeruns alone won't win games, but they certainly help, and they definitely drive fan interest. Odds are good that by the end of the season, Willingham will have hit more homers than any other Twin at Target Field in the last three seasons combined (currently Thome holds the record with 21 in a Twins uniform). His batting style is an excellent fit for this park. Are we really ready to dump that?

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Originally Posted by spideyo

Homeruns alone won't win games, but they certainly help, and they definitely drive fan interest. Odds are good that by the end of the season, Willingham will have hit more homers than any other Twin at Target Field in the last three seasons combined (currently Thome holds the record with 21 in a Twins uniform). His batting style is an excellent fit for this park. Are we really ready to dump that?

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And what good do all those homers do for the team that's gonna lose another 90+ games?

I think trading Willingham makes more sense. I fear that the outfield defense would not be that good with Willingham - Revere - Parmalee, I would rather see Revere - Span - Parmalee. But if we are a few starting pitching free agent signs away to be competitive again, I think keeping them both would make sense. I like the outfield of Willingham - Span - Revere (minus the crap arm strength) but I like the Span, Revere, Mauer, Willingham batting order.

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Originally Posted by DPJ

And what good do all those homers do for the team that's gonna lose another 90+ games?

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Sell tickets.

Also, all those homers might not help the team win a ton this year, but if we can make some serious starting pitching improvements for 2013, all those homers will do wonders when we aren't losing by 5 runs before the 4th inning

Are we sure that the Twins are't considering trading Revere rathar than Span? There has been no recent talk of it, but Revere's stock was rock bottom after he was sent down to start the season and people on this site were talking about moving him then. His value has gone way up since. During their careers, Span will likely a better OBP guy and can realisitically play all three outfield positions where as Revere would not be considered for RF by 29 teams in the league. However, he's young, cheap, can hit any pitch and could challnege any ballplayer in a foot race. Some teams put speed as one of the top, if not the top attribute for a ball player. Depending on the GM, Revere may get more, possibly a lot more, than Span could in a trade.

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Originally Posted by spideyo

We've got plenty of prospects in the "speedy centerfield leadoff hitter" mold. We don't exactly have a huge stockpile of Mashers. Plus, Span DOES have a history of head issues, between the concussions and the weird inner-ear issue he had a few years ago, so there is no guarantee that he'll be a long-term solution. Right now we'd be selling pretty high on him.

Other things to consider:
Trading Willingham now sends a bad message to other FA's we want to attract. Basically, we're saying that if you perform well but the team struggles, we're going to send you out immediately. Why would anyone want to be in that situation? People like to play for a contender, but they also like to not switch teams every 5-6 months.

While Willingham could be replaced in the future through FA, Span can be replaced RIGHT NOW with in-house candidates. A whole lot easier to slide Revere over to Center than hope we get lucky finding another guy who can hit homers at Target Field.

Homeruns alone won't win games, but they certainly help, and they definitely drive fan interest. Odds are good that by the end of the season, Willingham will have hit more homers than any other Twin at Target Field in the last three seasons combined (currently Thome holds the record with 21 in a Twins uniform). His batting style is an excellent fit for this park. Are we really ready to dump that?

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I agree totally. We need pitching, only give up what can easily be expected to be replaced. The odds of us finding another centerfield/leadoff hitter are much better than ever finding another righthanded power hitter.

Everyone seems to have hit rock bottom because of the 3 game sweep by Oakland, but honestly nothing has changed. We have a competitive team with no starting pitching. Keep the competitive lineup and acquire pitching. We can be competitive next year (maybe not win the division) but competitive enough to be above .500 and be in the wild card mix, if we get some pitching. Spend some money and acquire them through FA, without trading away players we need.

Twins hitting will be irrelevant without decent starting pitching. I am for trading anything for pitching that can miss bats. Clubs like Toronto and Oakland have learned to swing hard against the pitch to contact pitchers. When these type of pitchers are slightly off their pitches end up in the bleachers. No club can survive 5.5 starting pitching ERA. If you figure that only maybe 10 - 20% will ever make or do well in the major leagues- the twins need numbers of good arms to find the right pitchers.

Trade Span, Liriano and Capps (if possible) if you get offered legitimate pitching prospects, and if not, trade Span in the winter, make a qualifying offer to Liriano, and decide if picking up Capps option makes us a better team than not.

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Originally Posted by spideyo

Sell tickets.

Also, all those homers might not help the team win a ton this year, but if we can make some serious starting pitching improvements for 2013, all those homers will do wonders when we aren't losing by 5 runs before the 4th inning

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The only way the Twins are gonna compete in the next couple seasons is to pay out the ass for Grienke, Hamels and everyother functioning pitcher on the market. Since there's a less then zero % chance the Twins will break the bank for even one of those guys I don't see how this team is suppose to suddenly suppose to rebuild an entire rotation in a season.

We all need to remember to, that unlike last year, not a single one of our position players will hit Free Agency at the end of the season. In fact, Pavano and Liriano are the only guys who will be eligible for FA that don't have a club option.

So basically, to move ANYBODY right now, they need to decide if the offer is better than what they will get in the off-season. Other teams that are in the basement right now, might see Span/Willingham/Morneau/etc. as potentially valuable pieces to rebuild around, but aren't going to chase after them right now.

I'm strongly in favor of keeping Willingham. Aside from his numbers, I think it looks terrible from an organizational standpoint to trade a guy in the first year of a three-year contract... it's been said before, but what free agent is going to be comfortable signing here in the future knowing the Twins could just ship them right out the door in a few months. Following Ginger Willingham on Twitter it certainly seems the family loves it in MN... I'm sure Terry Ryan would think twice about the family situation before uprooting the Willinghams and making a trade. Not to say Span isn't in the same situation, but he didn't just uproot his family and move to MN within the past few months.

If I had to pick between the two, and the offers were the same, I would trade Willingham and keep Span. Span can be part of a winning lineup for years into the future, whereas Willingham is on the wrong side of the bell-curve when it comes to career longevity.

Both? If both is not an option, I choose Willingham, he's 33 and not always noted for being healthy, and isn't great in the field. I'm operating under the assumption they won't sign a bunch of FAs, so they won't be good again next year, so the only way to get better is to have lots of guys in high A, or AA, that all come up together.

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Originally Posted by spideyo

Sell tickets.

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Wins sell tickets, not homers.

The Twins need Willingham's right handed bat more than they need Span's glove so I say trade Span.

But really, it all depends on what teams are willing to pay for each.

Trade Span and prospects for Shields.

Trade them both.

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Originally Posted by rocketpig

The Twins need Willingham's right handed bat more than they need Span's glove so I say trade Span.

But really, it all depends on what teams are willing to pay for each.

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Concur.