jtkoupal

Willingham and Suzuki to Baltimore MIGHT be able to convince them to trade Dylan Bundy to us.

Interesting that you mention Hughes. I have put thought into this possibility, but I don't see it happening. He has been our best pitcher, which maybe gives us all the more reason to deal him. But Terry Ryan has a history of reluctance at the deadline, so don't count on it. As for Willingham, I made a post yesterday of teams that may have interest in him. I believe that there are seveal teams that would like to have him, but not at a high price, as he has missed a lot of time due to injury. As for Kurt, I also see Texas as a good fit, as he would be an upgrade from Chirinos and Giminez. Suzuki should be traded, but again, Terry Ryan has not been very active recently and Gardy seems to have a "man thing" for Kurt, so I would not count on it. Morales would not garner much of anything unless he stars to run into some homers soon, as that is his game.

5 days ago, Kyle Gibson pitched the Twins passed the Tigers to tighten the gap to only 3 games. Since, the team has endured an ugly, gut-wrenching 5 game losing streak to fall to 6 games under .500, 6.5 games back in the central, and 5 games back in the Wild Card. What this losing streak showed, especially the 3 game sweep in Boston, was that the Twins are probably done after being relevant for the better part of the first half. With this drop in the standings means in the need to sell off some pieces, something that the Twins have been reluctant to do over the years. Among the names of guys that should be traded is Josh Willingham. Since returning to the lineup, Josh has played like the Josh Willingham of 2012, driving in runs in key situations and driving the ball out of the ballpark. This resurgence of Willingham has pumped some value into him. Barring a complete collapse at the plate, Willingham will be wanted by someone. Below are a list of teams that could have interest in the Twins' slugger and why: Baltimore Orioles: David Lough and Delmon Young have both seen time in Left Field this season. That position has been very unproductive for Baltimore, as Lough is hitting .182 and Young, while the batting average is very good, has only 3 home runs and 10 RBI in 35 games. Willingham would add a clutch bat with power at a position of desperate need for Baltimore. Oakland Athletics: This is not a terrible likely landing spot, as the A's have stability in LF, but it wouldn't hurt for them to have another bat in the lineup as a DH, a position where everyone plays here and there for Oakland. Texas Rangers: Texas has a chance to make a run, but I think that they could use a bat. They are set in the outfield with Choo, Martin, and Rios, but they don't have much of anything outside of their positional starters. With Fielder out for they year and Moreland on the shelf, they could use a thumper to play DH, something that they don't have. Guys like Donnie Murphy, Michael Choice, and Brad Snyder are not going to cut it, Willingham will be a nice offensive upgrade for Texas, especially in that ballpark. Los Angeles Dodgers: The Dodgers don't have a crisis in left field, as Carl Crawford and Scott Van Slyke are both hitting in the .260's, but the addition of Willingham would give them a power upgrade and drive in more runs for a good price for the Dodgers. He would make their lineup much more formidable. Of course, I don't expect the Twins to get a harvest in return for Willingham, but the way I see it is that if he leaves in free agency, he goes for nothing. He has missed too much time to garner compensation as well.

If Hicks is part of the future of the Twins, it will not be in center field. That position appears destined for Byron Buxton to take. Rumors indicate that Hicks will start to see reps in the corner outfield. If that is the case, than that is likely where we might see him in the future if is indeed part of it. If Hicks can start hitting, which I know he CAN do, he can be an option in the corner outfield, which would make the Twins' outfield much speedier.

As every single user of Twins Daily is aware, the Twins are in a state of despair in nearly every facet baseball. Over the next several weeks, I will be posting steps that need to be taken in order to fix the Minnesota Twins. Had I started 3 weeks ago, rule number one would have obviously been starting pitching. Recently, however, Ricky Nolasco and Phil Hughes have both been inked to multi-year deals and another starter could be on the way as early as Thursday or Friday. With Nolasco, Hughes, Correia, and a possible 4th quality starter in the mix, the rotation appears to be solid if not strong in the near future. Anyway, time to get to the point. I would like to start my "Rules For Fixing the Minnesota Twins". Rule number 1 for fixing the Minnesota Twins is to keep Oswaldo Arica in the lineup consistently. There has been recent speculation on a possible trade involving Arcia because of the myriad of outfielders that the Twins have in the system currently. As far as I am concerned, any deal that involves Arcia is a mistake. The Twins need power in the lineup, a guy with as much raw power as Arcia is hard to find. While Arcia certainly has some plate discipline and pitch selection issues to work out, he showed some very advanced hitting skills for such a young kid last season. Arcia Analysis Positive: A. Abundant raw power B. Ability to drive the ball C. Young and full of potential D. Very good low-ball hitter Negative: A. Too many swings and misses (though the whole team is that way) B. Trouble with breaking pitches C. Impatient D. Can not hit high fastballs, only low balls E. Sucker for breaking pitches low in the zone that break out of the zone, much like Cuddyer was. Stay tuned, as I will have another rule within the next few days.

He could be a nice fit for Minnesota. However, chances are that Terry Ryan will not even inquire on Wieters. The Twins are clearly looking for a catcher to fill the void left by Joe Mauer, but it looks like Josmil Pinto is the guy. In the short term, the Twins are looking for a veteran guy to come in, fill a temporary gap, mentor Pinto, and then leave when Pinto is ready. Wieters is going to garner interest, Baltimore will likely ask for pitching in return, something that the Twins do not have a whole lot of to offer. While I do believe Wieters would fit in nicely in Minnesota, I would not hold my breath on him being a Twin in the near future.

For the past 15 years, calling the Minnesota Twins middle infield a "revolving door" would be an understatement. However, the Twins currently possess a rising star at second base as well as a top prospect who will most likely be ready to compete in 2015. In the near future, the Twins are going to have to make a decision regarding the 2nd base position for the future. The question that Twins fans everywhere are asking is, "will it be Dozier or Rosario?" It will be an interesting decision that will be made. I will share my thoughts below. First off, the Twins front office must look at the potential of both. There are two ways of looking at this. One way is that you keep the one with more potential. The other way is to trade the one with more potential because he will bring back more in return. In my opinion, I think Dozier is the guy to keep. While Rosario has more upside with the bat, his defense is rather suspect and he has little power. Brian Dozier played like a Gold Glove caliber 2nd Baseman this year and showed plenty of power, especially after May 31. Eddie Rosario looks to have a lot of tools, however, Dozier is much better on defense and has much more power. Rosario is destined to be a lead off hitter, he is more powerful than Ben Revere, but he will almost definitely not hit 20 home runs like Dozier probably will. Rosario could garner more return, so I believe that he should be the trade candidate. Another option is to move Dozier back to shortstop and get rid of Florimon. I do not see it happening, but it sounds nice. No matter what, the front office will make a decision. Hopefully, they make a good one.

These stats can be flukey with not much sample size. However, it is clear that Butera is a better catcher than anyone else that we have had recently. The point that you mentioned about Butera warranting a decent prospect in return is interesting. If we were to trade Doumit, we would get very little unless we sweetened the deal. To a point, I agree with your claim that teams are overlooking a catcher's hitting attributes and looking at their defense/game management. Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh are two very good examples. However, St. Louis has the best catcher in baseball, offensively and defensively, and they are in the World Series.

I appreciate the time and thought that you put into this. Whether your intentions were to provoke laughter or to say something constructive, it was well written. Unfortunately, we all know that Cano is either going back to New York (most likely) or to the Dodgers. We do have the money to lure him in NOW! However, what happens when our young players reach arbitration and we are stuck with Cano and Mauer making up more than half of our payroll. That would be a mess, we cannot have over $50MM locked up in 2 guys, it's not practical. I understand and appreciate your effort, though it is really a moot argument given Terry Ryan's history (or lack thereof) of offseason spending. There is no way Cano is in Twins blue and red next year. As for the Dozier argument, your argument is certainly valid, we only saw 3 months of him at shortstop in 2012. He made way too many errors, tough he also made some very good plays as well. The only thing is, Florimon has much more range and instincts at short, so a small market team will give the defensive wizard the playing time. Many of Dozier's errors were mental, and I'm sure he could be better if he went back to shortstop, but the fact is that Dozier played Gold Glove caliber defense at 2B this year, and if their projections are correct, his peak will not be that much worse than Cano. Cano will put up better numbers, most likely, but why splurge on Cano when you can have Dozier for a much more reasonable cost and similar production. On a side note, however, the Twins will have plenty of cash to spend this winter. With only about $60MM in commitments next year, we have plenty of flexibility. We need a starter (or 2, or 3), that is where a majority of the money will need to go. A first baseman will be needed as well. There are rumors of a possible Justin Morneau return (more than just possible from the sounds of it), which will derail the Parmelee/Colabello train (woot! woot!) Any way, maybe you will be right and Cano will head north to the Minny (don't count on it). Go Twins!!

There is a lot that can be speculated, and the numbers showed certainly don't lie. However, I believe that the answer for the Twins lies with all three. There is so much work that needs to be done to get this team on the right track, and in my opinion, it starts with the offense. The offense was a bigger problem than our pitching this past year, getting shut down by nobody pitchers night after night. But the rotation is in desperate need of some help as well. What we need is something along the lines of this: FA acquisition FA acquisition/trade acquisition Correia Diamond Gibson If I'm the Twins, I'm looking at a top line pitcher. We only have about $60M in commitments this coming year, and that could drop if Willingham and/or Doumit get traded. The bottom line, we have money, the money needs to be spent on pitching that won't knock us out in the 2nd inning constantly. I'd be looking at: Rickey Nolasco Ervin Santana Matt Garza Masahiro Tanaka Tim Lincecum (barring qualifying offer) Scott Feldman Ubaldo Jimenez Josh Johnson Phil Hughes Wandy Rodriguez The Twins are not big spenders usually, but I think one or two of these players need to be signed if we are going anywhere. I'd personally like to see Nolasco and Johnson, they pitched together in Miami, are veterans, and are better than what we have, but they will come at a price. A price that needs to be paid. Go Twins

Good afternoon, all. This is my first blog here at Twins Daily. Today, I would like to talk about our man Justin Morneau. I would like to hear some opinions, I'm sure there will be many. My questions are: Does Morneau return to Minnesota? What would you pay him if up to you? If not MN, where does Justin go? Is this team better without him? Please feel free to share your thoughts, I will listen to all opinions whether I agree with them or not.

I'm on board with Oliveros getting a roster spot. I'd have Fien and Thielbar in the set up role and Burton elsewhere. Burton could be a trade chip, I'd rather see Oliveros.