spideyo

I betcha Duensing would do it. The Maestro might be able to pull it off too. I actually always hoped they'd throw Cuddy into that spot. I think he played every position except catcher and Ss at the big league level at least once, and he was drafted as a SS

This would make it easier to deal with Walters coming back from his injury. a 6-man of Diamond, Deduno, Duensing, DeVries, Hendricks, and Walters wouldn't be bad at this point (on paper)

Deduno has everything going against him. He's 28, it's his first real shot at the majors. His previous teams mainly used him as a reliever and he's been thrown into the rotation. He can't locate his fastball. He walks more guys than he strikes out, and he is currently averaging 6.8 walks per 9 innings. If you saw that on paper, you'd assume he also had a crap ton of losses too. But he doesn't. He is 4-0, and the Twins are 6-1 in games he's started. Is it all smoke and mirrors? Maybe. But maybe, just maybe it IS possible that you can succeed without fitting the standard mold of a pitcher. Or maybe he'll collapse eventually. But at this point, what have we got to lose riding it out? As long as the smoke and mirrors keep fooling opposing hitters, what's the harm? Assuming we maintain our current trajectory and don't sign any amazing FA pitchers *cough*greinke*cough*, I would pencil Deduno in to the rotation next year. If he is going to blow up, let him blow up early.

Why do we need to claim him?

I'm getting a little sick of the negativity and the refusal to accept reality at face value. Examples: Deduno is doing well.....so let's talk about how the twins pitching staff is probably going to screw him up Willingham is hitting more homers than anyone ever in Target Field and is a crowd fave and a clutch hitter.....we better trade him now. Scott Diamond has been the most stable and reliable starter we have, and has done a fantastic job this year....but he's still at best a poor man's someone or other and won't really turn out to be great Mourneau is finally returning to pre-concussion form, and is doing well, and is strating to improve against lefties.....let's trade him as soon as possible Mastroianni is doing exactly what we want a 4th OF/bench guy doing, handling spot starts, stealing like crazy, making clutch hits when nesc.....so let's move him to 2b Revere is making highlight reel catches constantly, has a 20 game hit streak, within a week will be in the top 5 for BA, and is second in the AL in SB. He's 23 and hasn't even played a full season at the major league level......so let's trade him immediately because he'll never be a legit starter What we actually have is a team that started out really, REALLY awful, made some significant, if not high-profile, lineup changes, altered their game plans (remember at the beginning of the year how Doumit, Plouffe, and Parmelee were going to see time in RF?) and have seen considerable improvement. They aren't making the playoffs this year, but they may finish out of the cellar. It's not unrealistic to think that this team could compete for a playoff spot next year if they add a few more pieces. So why can't we just enjoy the improvement and enjoy the success, instead of advocating that we blow up the whole team and plan for 2015?

More fun: The Twins are currently 4th in all of MLB (2nd in the AL) in stolen bases, and have struck out less than everyone but the Royals. Also, Revere has the second longest active hitting streak in the league.

Maybe they'll give him the Valencia treatment, play him for a ten days, and then send him through waivers and dump him for a rookie league player

It doesn't work like that. The money spent of facilities improvement and maintenance is an entirely separate fund and CANNOT be spent on payroll. August-October is the period when MN Sportservice (the company that operates all the concessions, retail, suites and restaurant spaces at Target Field, and my employer) will submit their requests for capital improvements. Things like new kitchen equipment, improved beer distribution systems (one thing I know that is being requested), remodeling/alteration of the various vending spaces, that kind of thing. The Twins will sort through those, figure out which stuff is an absolute priority, and pay for those first. After that, they will look at how much budget they have left and compare the other internal an external proposals and figure out what they can afford. Most likely any significant changes won't be announced until late November or December. I haven't heard much talk yet, but if I hear any juicy rumors I'll let you know. My best guesses at this point would be: 1. Expansion of local/craft brews in the ballpark 2. Improvements to the plaza to encourage more people to come early 3. Permanent addition of The Giant Slugger big dog or something similar to create a "signature" food at Target Field Don't expect them to move the fences anytime soon. They don't want "dead space", and with attendance dropping, they aren't going to add more seats. If anyone does have specific issues that you think should be addressed, please let me know. I will be submitting some of my own proposals to my managers in the next month or two (largely related to the Rooftop where I usually work)

It probably wouldn't become public, unless they actually got rid of him. In theory, the waiver wire is "secret". Nobody outside the organizations, and probably very few WITHIN the organizations know for sure who is sent through waivers and who isn't, unless a transaction actually happens. I don't think they even have to tell a player or their agent that they are sending them through waivers.

What could also happen is they stay on 1500AM, but cut a deal so that they can simulcast on 96.3FM. Don't the vikes have games on the AM and FM dial? Currently you can get games on 107.1FM, but only on their "HD2" station, so if you don't have an HD radio you are out of luck.

Also, it doesn't make ANY sense to take whatever we can get for any of these guys, since they are still under contract for a couple more years. Plenty of time over the off-season to get better deals

Too bad Drew can't hit as well as he can pitch, he could work his "latino whisperer" magic on Casilla

Truth is too, that we have about as good a chance re-signing him in the offseason as we would if we hadn't traded him. If he manages to stay in "Ace" mode the rest of the season, he is not gonna just resign with the Sox, he's gonna wanna test the waters, same as he would if he was here. We COULD make a run at him, and then the net result would be we only lose him for two months for two young guys. If he signs a big deal elsewhere, well, he probably would have gotten that deal leaving the Twins too, which means we would have lost him for nothing. We all know how much we love when our top guys leave in FA and we get jack squat in return

5. The Twins reveal to the world that deep underneath Target Field they built a super-secret genetics laboratory and have been developing the next generating of superstars. The first product of the Pohlad's mad experiments was made created with dna extracted from Ozzie Smith's beard trimmings and Pete Rose's spittoon. Ozzie Rose becomes the first player to play 2b and SS simultaneously. 6. Their second experiment, a Barry Bonds/Mark McGuire hybrid, overdoses on HGH, grows 20 ft tall and goes on a rampage, flattening much of the western suburbs. It is then immediately signed by the Yankees.

With Pavano on the 60 day, when is he eligible to come off?

Surprised that I haven't seen the point brought up before but there is one MAJOR difference between the Twins and the Astros. Next year, the Astros will be playing in the American League for the the first time EVER. They NEED to blow their team up, because they are going to be competing against totally different teams. No more double-switches, no more hitting pitchers. They'll have a regular DH spot to fill. I can't quite articulate it, but there is a distinct difference in playing style between the American League and the National League, and the Astros need to start stocking up on American League players.

I wish every hot star we traded away collapsed so spectacularly once they left the twins

If you are going to trade a top prospect, it'd be much wiser to trade Benson/Hicks/Arcia/Kepler. We have lots of depth in the OF, but not much for the IF.

wait...you want these guys to start because they are cheap, under team control, and not good enough to trade for a big haul? That's how you turn a big league franchise into a AAAA team.

Benson got demoted to AA and Parmelee hasn't been spending hardly any time in the OF. What about that makes them look like potential starters next year?

That ain't a half bad idea. I like Butera where he is, but I don't think he should play more. I think if you play him everyday, he is going to get overwhelmed like he did last year. He is well suited to being a backup catcher, and catching 1-2 times a week. Nothing wrong with that.

If you are gonna bring back a guy who is close to retirement simply for nostalgia and his bat, go sign Thome. At least he has always been respectful towards the organization and the fans. Hunter is kind of a dick.

Anyone wanna crunch the numbers and see what the average start IP is with Drew vs. without him? If Liriano gets 3+more outs with Butera, I'd say that's worth 3 sub-par ab's Don't forget too, that having that 3rd catcher keeps a good hitting catcher in the DH spot most of the time, rather than going back to those dark days of having Brendan Harris be our best DH option

Good point. Probably the best chance we'd get of having an affiliate in Minnesota would be if MLB brought the entire American Association league into the Minor League farm system and gave every team one more affiliate

They are 5th in their division, and 6th in the wild card hunt. They have about the same chance of making the playoffs as the Royals do. And yes there are better players in New Britain, but if you follow some people's suggestions and trade everyone, most of those guys will be needed in Minneapolis next year. Really, it's more a question of is this the start of an upward trend, or just a slight improvement. Remember, 2010-2011 were the worst two years for Rochester in 107 years.