Rosterman

Anyone of the 40-man roster before season's end can be jettisoned to add guys in the off-season. And a couple of these guys need to be kept around to jettison IF the Twins sign a free agent.

The Twins will probably send a pitcher back for the two weeks before rosters expand in September. Look for all 40-man prospects to get the call up at that time: Hendriks, Guerra, Waldrop, Hernandez, plus Escobar, Tosoni, Parmelee. I'm thinking Benson will stay with New Britain. Assuming the Twins clear further roster space by letting some guys go in August (maybe Capps, Pavano) we might see an early add...yet Hicks is at New Britain and with them in the playoffs, probably not. I would like to see them advance Arcia to the bench, just give him some exposure to what the future might bring. The Twins do have one open roster spot and if Slama can start pitching again, would like to see him get some more major league innings. Right now, I would hate to be a disabled list pitcher who missed out on a season of opportunities: i.e. Slama and Oliveros and Gutierrez. All three are on the bubble stay on the 40-man or in the organization. 7 call-ups in September (maybe 8, depending who goes down with Plouffe comes back). Of course, make that 9 as someone has to go down when Pavano or Capps come back. I don't look for Walters return until September, if then.

Hey, like Blackburn, you are paying the guy and might as well get something out of him. He can't hurt you right now. The question is when Plouffe comes back, does he stay or does a pitcher go. You have to see what you got, and if there is anything that might $3 million interest someone between now and August 30th, you let him show and then waiver wire him. Like they did Valencia. Wait, the Red Sox got Danny. To keep him from going to the Yankees, perhaps. Sadly, they sent him right away to triple-AAA. Poor Danny! He was batting better than Youklis did for the Red Sox.

A wake-up call to Francisco. He better pitch darn good down the stretch. It seems no one really wanted him or would offer much for him. He may be the free-agent bargain of the of-season.

Hey, bring him up and play him everyday and see if he suddenly increases his value, and then run him thru waivers.......

Why are people so hard on DeVries. He pitches his heart out and adapts as the game happens. He should be in any mix. Blackburn is here until they decide they can eat his salary. Baker is up-in-the-air...and probably would be as ready to return to the Twins as Gibson would be -- midseason. I doubt that Walters will be kept on the 40-man. Deduno, if he keeps pitching, will be. Hendriks will get a chance to shine. B.J. Hermsen might be the dark horse in all of this. But they still need a free agent. Claim Cliff Lee on waivers!

Every week this same stuff is handled in Twinkie Town, where the guy also gives a nice recap of teams in the Twins system. Usually stays pretty on top of transactions except when he and his wife go on the road for two weeks in the summer.

I agree/ The next question is who to add before the season ends to the 40-man, if places open. I picture Daniel Turpen, Slama, maybe Pedro Florimon. We all know Hicks HAS to be added to escape the Rule 5...but sooner or later. The joy is anyone added before season's end can be sent back out on waivers. Should the Twins keep Carlos Gutierrez?

Capps and Pavano won't be on waivers until they prove healthy. A team mainly would be interested in Capps before September 1, so they can add him to a playoff roster, which is the next big deadline need for some teams. Capps ahs value because a team can resign him for another year if they wish at already arranged salary.

I was surprised when he signed with the Orioles, who had a similar pitcher in their bullpen already. Glad to see him back in the majors. Hope he can continue throwing for more and more years.

Give us pitcher information.

What places already have an affiliation with the Midwest League? I doubt that they will subtract teams to add teams.

I drive from St. Paul to White Bear and lose the game totally. Also, not a lot of admiration for pre and post game showcases, on the whole. For any of his shortcomings, still liked Dark Star after a game. Pohlad radio, pure leverage. The Twins Broadcast network...basically what the major TV stations do...we control the product and the advertising and maybe throw a few local biggets your way to keep you happy.

Alexi is replacable. If by no one else, Janey Carroll. And, remember, we still owe a certain Japanese infielder $3 mill for next season. If someone would claim, I would say great -- take him...maybe give us a low-A prospect in return to boot. Otherwise, elt the NEXT team worry about offering him arbitration, which they probably wouldn't...or hope that we can resign him, mif need be, for soemthing more reasonable, if need be. By jettisoning Alexi, we can immediately add anotehr candidate infielder, Florimon, to the 40-man. At some point, Toshi, Flor and Esco will all be with the Twins, one if a roster spot opens in August, all three come September. Remember, we still have Carroll (unless he is waivered claimed, which could happen) and Dozier could probably play half-time during our "stay out of last place" stretch. Another question. When you are this far out of contention, is it better to play to not be the worst, or jsut say screw it and go for a higher draft pick. Back to the post: Alexi is a good back-up infielder...but nothing special, really. He is a dime a dozen. Yes, we pay Carroll so much more, but I fel bette starting Carroll at any of the infield positions than Alexi, although Carroll has been a disappointment overall. He gives us age and experience, which has a certain amount of value...but I would even let him go, too. And, to the other soul, who mentioned Plouffe...he still has one more season under total team control and is cheap for what he NOW brings to the table.

And sometimes teams claim players to keep another team from having that option. But it is a risk (Rios, for example, one year). The bigger question...if a team claimed Mauer...would you let them have him?

Unless it's a catcher, the rosters are pretty set. If anything, they might bump a couple of Elizabethton guys around as backups. You pretty much leave the A and A+ guys where they are depending on experience to keep them out of the minor league Rule 5 draft. Yes, all the DL guys need to find a home. Be interesting to se who comes up in September, though. Doubt the Twins will add anyone not already on the 40-man.

At that level, you don't need to worry about 40-man decisions so much, especially position players. Which is why the Twins will keep him there rather than advance to New Britain. Next year, yes...he becomes a decision.

Burton was declined a contract by his former team and thus became the equivalent of a minor-league free agent during the off-season. But the Twins can offer him arbitration if they wish for one more year. If they don't, he's a free agent again and can sign with anyone. The last team didn't feel he was worth the extra $$$ (similar to what the Twins did with Jose Mijares, who I believe has another arbitration year, but the Twins didn't want to pay him a million...but whatever team signed him could sign him for considerably less. The "current" team is always penalized, it seems. Like The Twins would have to offer Frankie $12.5 million. Now the Sox have to or lose him. The Twins could conceivably sign him for less. The Sox can't, unless they do a multi-year deal.

Either Liriano helps Chicago to the Playoffs, or he implodes and blows the Sox chances bigtime. A pretty big either/or. He could pitch for the Twins and keep us from looking at others who may/may not do just as good for a team on the downside of the division. Hell, if Liriano went 10-1 for the Twins the rest of the way, the only person he is helping is Liriano. He is not going to resign with the Twins, period. Why? The Twins have sent him to the minors and played with his service time. They sent him to the bullpen. They didn't sign him longterm (like Baker or Blackburn). Anywhere would be better than Minnesota for Liriano in 2013 unless the Twins would pay stupid money, which they never offered. We got someone to take the place of Alexi or Toshi or Carroll in 2012. We got a pitcher that might have some end-of-the-rotation upside for 3-4 years and perform as adequately as Liriano ahs the past 3-4 years. (Or he might need Tommy John, too). We see tonight if he helps the Sox or just fills a hole in their rotation. But if the Twins thought he was worth 3 years and $24 million, or $30 million or $36 million -- that time ahs come and gone. Of course, if he implodes, the Twins could pay him $8-10 a year if no one else lines up. But I wouldn't bet the house on that. If you are a bottom team, you get rid of pending free agents in July and August. You try to package 6-year minor league guys to other teams for 3-4 year prospects. You get rid of potentally high-priced arbitration players for possible prospects. That is what you do.

We have to give Ryan credit. This is a tough job, being a general manager. First off, the Twins option for Liriano was (1) sign him to a multi-year contract (2) offer him $12.5 million and if he doesn't take it, we get a draft choice (3) let him walk. They traded him...which means they can still offer him a multi-year contract depending on how he increases/decreases his market value, and we got two prospects in return. Both are basically major league ready. One ahs a pitching upside. The other can be that extra guy i the infield, replacing one of two higher priced guys next season. We all talk the talk about getting stuff for our stuff, Span, Willingham, Morneau, Perkins, etc. We forget that our next door neighbor has equally tantalizing stuff and may offer incentives (payroll givebacks) or has different needs and desires. Reading the list of potential players that can be had for some price (i.e. non starting pitching), the Twins may very well pull a zero. It was actually looking more and more like Janey Carroll would be out biggest trading chip. Most teams are going to deal from areas of strength in the minors, or those guys on the cusp of being minor free agents that they don't have 40-man roster room for, or guys like we got from the White Sox, a couple of players that the Sox feel would be replaceable by guys already in their system. I would say the Twins got similar to Florimon and Bromberg, two players that may be ignored by the Twins because there is stuff like them coming up in the system and the Twins really don't see them contributing to the team in palce of, say, otehrs in the system, or otehr minor league free agents that could also be available. Free agency. The Twins need to keep Willingham just to prove that they don't rent free agents. The Twins are also liable to attract more highly regarded minor free agents (The Bowdens, for example) next year because players will see an opportunity. There are a lot of those promising 24-25 roster players out there, as there also are the 41st/42nd that get cut when people on the 60-man must return. Teams have to move guys not just because they ain't good, but they are blocked and treading water and someone else is at the back door knocking for attention. The Twins have to try the free agent market, and hopefully someone wants to come here. Hey, Doumit and Willingham came here. And Doumit wants to stay, too. That's good p.r. Should the Twins ersign Baker? He's a perfect example of a competitive marketplace. I doubt that the Twins will be alone in offering him a 2-3 year back-ended contract, the guy does have talent. Again, have bridges been burned because of the way Baker was handled for the disabled list? Is he worn out pitching for Minnesota and jsut wants to try somewhere different? Does he truly love us and wants to stay and end his career (a la Nathan and Cuddyer sic). Good piece, Seth. I do think Terry Ryan is looking towards 2013 as more than rebuilding. Staying competitive. Yes, eliminate those early starts by Balckie, Pavano, Liriano, Marquis and the horrible era and think if they were just pitched by someone who didn't give up as many runs (i.e. Deduno and DeVries...although our sample is still too small) in which we won one and lost one....the Twins would be at least a .500 team with promise and might actually be looking to buy and trading one of our hot young guys like Hicks, Benson, Arcia or Sano for a Grienke in the stretch run. Baseball is a game. Someone has to win. Someone has to lose. But the price of beer always remains the same. We aren't alone if offering players for trade. Although I would salivate if I could obtain a Willingham, Morneau, Span or Perkins with decent-price years on their contracts for unknowns that, in 2-3 years would be replaced by others in my system.

Sheets, Jeff Francis and Kevin Millwood. $10 million total for the triptik!

Josh has been overplaying his contract worth. He is a .250 hitter with a decent K/BB ratio wjo can consistently give you 25+ homers and 90+ rbi and also getting older.

If a team claims a player, they do have to take him. The ownership team can haul him off the wire, or negotiate a modest prospect player trade. But a team can't claim and then not take the player...unless the team that owns the player decides not to let them go. Teams send players thru waivers at different times, too. Some do their whole roster at one point, just to get an idea of interest.

Maybe we could get what the Phillies got for Thome...at least!

The pain is that both of the guys the Twins got from the White Sox now have their major league clock ticking. Unlike Humber, who the Twins got for Santana, the Twins don't have to keep either player in the majors or lose him, potentially, if they send him to the minors = for at least two seasons. I also look at the two guys and think...Escobar could easily have been designated y the White Sox still this season to free up a roster spot. Hernandez could've been cut from the White Sox 40-man this winter. Assuming there's other bodies in the system more promising. So the Twins got the 39th and 40th player in the current organization. I still can't believe there wasn't other interest in Liriano. But both of the White Sox guys are major league readier than a couple of A-level prospects, I guess, who may have a higher bar.