Trade Josh Willingham

Ok, I love Josh Willingham. He has come in and been exactly what the Twins needed, he seems like a great guy, and he likes it here. The problem is, by the time the twins are actually contenders, Willingham will be past his prime and on the way out.

The twins are in position to bring in the biggest haul at the deadline. With Willingham being arguably the best rh power hitter available, and with more teams in contention at the deadline than ever, this makes so much sense. Willingham also has value in that he is under team control for a few years. Gone are the days of renting a player and still getting draft compensation for them.

While I agree that the move doesn't look the best from a PR perspective, it has to be done. Good FA's will not look away from Minnesota in the future because of this, they more likely will be attracted to the team, considering they will be in better position to contend.

I would like to hear others' opinions on this.

Still $17 million left on that contract and it's for 2+ years. That slows this down a bit. And the Twins should probably hold on to him so they don't revert to a 63-win team in 2013 and REALLY drive away fans from the park.

17M for 2 years is a bargain for what Willingham has done so far. That contract will be a bonus in the deal, not a hinderance.

7M/yr left on his contract does not slow this down at all. His injury history is what might make teams pause but it's also the reason that the Twins should shop him.

Trade from strength. OF is the position of strength in the organization. If a starting pitcher or a few arms that can bring heat are offered in return it's a deal that has to be made.

I like Willingham and i love that he just stays quiet does his job. But he also has value as a trading chip. This organization is rebuilding. If he could bring some good high ceiling guys (pitching please) rebuilding would go a whole lot better.

All the trade rumors are tagged with the prospective GM's saying they wont give up top prospects for rental players. Now that you can't get comp picks for traded players, trading guys still under contract next year might be the only way to get any valuable prospects back.

No, Willingham should not be traded. Hicks, Benson, Sano, Arcia, etc... are 2-3 yrs away from making the majors. How many of you would watch Revere, Mastroianni, Mauer, Doumit, Plouffe, Parmalee, Carroll, Dozier, Casilla play. The team has got to keep some major league players for this season and next. Span & Liriano are the two best chips to deal, and then hope the kids at AA & AAA are ready next year and the year after.

Disagree. Keeping Willingham isn't gonna keep fans. But playing the younger kids and giving at atbats to Parmalee and others would be more beneficial to the future.

As fans we shouldn't care about contracts when it comes to trades. Can we get back players worthy of giving up Willinghams production when he's 34 and 35 years old? I would assume we can. The team trading an overpaid player almost always picks up a good portion of the salary anyways so it's no different we're simply picking up the extra 0 dollars that another team might be unwilling to pay.

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Originally Posted by mnfireman

No, Willingham should not be traded. Hicks, Benson, Sano, Arcia, etc... are 2-3 yrs away from making the majors. How many of you would watch Revere, Mastroianni, Mauer, Doumit, Plouffe, Parmalee, Carroll, Dozier, Casilla play. The team has got to keep some major league players for this season and next. Span & Liriano are the two best chips to deal, and then hope the kids at AA & AAA are ready next year and the year after.

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what kids in AAA/ nishi, floimon,hollimon,valencia,carson?

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Originally Posted by mnfireman

No, Willingham should not be traded. Hicks, Benson, Sano, Arcia, etc... are 2-3 yrs away from making the majors. How many of you would watch Revere, Mastroianni, Mauer, Doumit, Plouffe, Parmalee, Carroll, Dozier, Casilla play. The team has got to keep some major league players for this season and next. Span & Liriano are the two best chips to deal, and then hope the kids at AA & AAA are ready next year and the year after.

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Benson,Hicks and Arcia are damn near ready for th big leagues now. Jump from AA tobig leagues is not all that uncommon. We need to make room for the young kids and build our rotation for when they get here!!! Trading Willingham and Span will bring back the assets needed to do that. Make it happen!!

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Originally Posted by Mchans24

Benson,Hicks and Arcia are damn near ready for th big leagues now.

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No they aren't.

Why aren't they Dave? Arcia is killing it, Hicks is having a nice season and Benson since coming back has been good.

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Originally Posted by Badsmerf

Why aren't they Dave? Arcia is killing it, Hicks is having a nice season and Benson since coming back has been good.

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Each still has issues to work out (Benson consistency, Hicks right/left split, Arcia strikeouts). I don't see any reason to rush them even if one of them "looks" ready in the next month. Call them up in September and give them a taste of MLB pitching (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) and then prep them for 2013, where one or all of them should start in AAA and then get a call early next season. I don't see a reason to start the clock on any of them when none of them have had prolonged success in AA. They'll be up soon enough.

Besides, there is no room in the OF for any of them right now.

They are a lot closer than 2-3 years away, I think most of us can agree on that part. I see no reason to keep Willingham right now. They stink to high heaven again this year. They are going to stink next year, trade him and get players that can really help in 2013/4 and beyond. Seems like a good guy, does seem to like it here, I agree, that human element does matter. But what matters more, if you are the GM, is getting the best players into the system.

I don't see it....the Twins will try to fix their SP(no..I don't know how) this offseason and try to contend in still a avg division next yr...the Hammer will still have alot of value next July if they fall out of it again.

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Originally Posted by SpiritofVodkaDave

No they aren't.

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Oh, please enlighten me?

IfBenson isn't an every day player next year it may not happen!! Hicks and Arcia will both get a cup of coffee this year and you never know when a player will stick. Dozier played most of last year in AA and a couple weeks I AAA this year and is now a full time big leaguer. Why can't Arcia and Hicks do the same?

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Originally Posted by Mchans24

Oh, please enlighten me?

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I guess it depends on what you mean by "damn near ML ready" If you are saying they could be brought up in the next few weeks and be effective major leaguers I think you are mistaken as none of these guys are knocking on the door at this point. I think all three will be up sometime in 2013 but its not a guarantee any will be effective major leaguers in 2013 as often times there is quite an adjustment period before these guys preform at a major league level.
For one:
Benson has been awful 90% of this season and Arcia and Hicks both need to work on the things Pig posted above. I'm as huge of a Hicks homer as they come, but it should be noted that he wasn't doing a ton the past couple years up until these past 2-3 months. It wouldn't shock me to see him suddenly struggle again if he went up to the majors. Arcia looks like the safest bet at this point to succeed, but I'd like to see more than 100 PA above Ft Myers before I suddenly pencil him into a starting role.

Just because we have some nice depth in the minors doesn't mean we should just dump our current productive outfielders, it's not like there is some sudden rush to trade Willingham now anyways. If he keeps playing well we can always trade him next season if Hicks, Arcia and/or Benson are knocking on the door.