Note: If you wouldn't say it to someone's face, don't say it here. Comments deleted on a whim.
Is this something to worry about?
http://www.boston.com/sports/bas...ed_with_cancer/
Will Carroll is great at what he does, but his "inside" information is suspect at best. Best not to put too much stock in it.
Great Tigers got Cabrera and Willis to add to there collection of Jacque Jones and Edgar Renteria.
By the way where is all that money from the Castillo trade, Ortiz trade, the money saved by hunter, and soon Santana, and Silvia going? Thats alot of money with nothing to show so far.
David Ortiz
Kevin Garnett
Randy Moss
Johan Santana
This is what I say the Twins do...
1.) Trade Santana for Lester, Crisp, Masterson, Lowrie, and Kalish. (Even though I would prefer Ellsbury instead of Lester, but it's not realistic).
Benefits: You have a pitcher to insert between Baker and Bonser. You get a CF who will be around for 2 years until either Jason Pridie or Ben Revere(will be a stud) are ready. You have a SS/2B in Lowrie who hits for power and should be a stud. You get a potential 4/5 starter in Masterson or a potential stud closer. And you get OF depth with Kalish who has a lot of potential.
2.) You trade Joe Nathan for Brandon Wood or Laroche.
Benefits: Our biggest gaping hole is at 3B. Both Brandon Wood and Laroche are the two biggest 3B prospects on the market and Joe Nathan we need to get rid of regardless because we can't afford him next year and we have an immediate replacement in Pat Neshek. Bobby Korecky can replace him in his current positin in the bullpen.
3.) With all of the money you have now saved through removing contracts such as Nathan, Santana, Hunter, Silva, and Bartlett, you are able to go after a big name free agent for a DH (I see Tony Clark, Sosa, Piazza, or Sweeney would fit the bill nicely)or veteran starting pitcher(Trachsel, Jason Jennings or Kris Benson)
4.) The lineup would consist of the following:
1.) Crisp CF
2.) Mauer C
3.) Cuddyer RF
4.) Morneau 1B
5.) Young LF
6.) Wood/Laroche 3B
7.) Kubel/Free Agent DH
8.) Lowrie/Punto
9.) Casilla/Harris
Rotation:
Liriano
Baker
Lester
Bonser/Blackburn
Slowey/veteran free agent
Bullpen:
Guerrier
Neshek
Rincon
Crain
Korecky
Perkins
Reyes
This is a solid lineup and team put together. It will have far better offensive production and the pitching will not be much worse than it was before as long as Neshek pitches like last year and Liriano comes back like what he was. Solid for years to come!
Brandon Inge for 3B? Not a bad idea. He can also catch.
Ehh...no thanks to Brandon Inge. He's posted an OPS+ of 85 during his career, and he didn't even match that last season. His OBP is atrocious, he strikes out a ton, and he really doesn't hit for much power. And he's owed over $6M each of the next 3 seasons.
So, yeah, he's not Nick Punto, but that's about the only compliment I can give him.
To the Space Aliens who Brought One of Their Kind to Our World:
Please tell us what we have done to anger you, O space aliens. Why do not know why you have seen fit to take the space alien Santana and his otherworldly talents away from us. Please let us know what we can do to restore your favor.
From Boston :
Twins can keep Santana. The guy lost 13 games last season. His best years are behind him. Very bad deal for Sox to lose Lester !
Hank, you must have been breast-fed from falsies.
This just in; Hank fell out of the stupid tree, hitting every branch on the way down.
Man, I don't want CoCo! Lester & Lowrie, I like. But I want Ellsbury! If we get Ellsbury, it's a good trade for the Twins (and still a good one for the Sox).
I get that the Sox don't want to give up Ellsbury & Lester, but to get Santana they should be willing to do it. they can fill CF back in with Crisp and then they end up with the best rotation in all of baseball, by a lot. Santana, Beckett, Dice-K, Schilling, & Bucholtz? That's just scary. And they'll still hit plenty.
The Twins get room in the budget to sign up Morneau & Cuddyer, fill SS & CF back up with rising young players, and still have a solid rotation. No one would pick them to win, but they could surprise the hell out of a lot of people and be the new Florida Marlins.
What worries me is that they might get cash intead of another player from Boston. I don't think that the TWINS are aware of how cynical the fans are becoming of this tactic, and how opposing GM's are using this to water down what we get back in these deals. I believe they've already taken the LESTER deal that includes COCO. If that 5TH player isn't included you can bet the RED SOX have put several million OF SCRATCH into the deal !!!
ESPN.com reporting Gardenhire likes Eckstein for Twins middle INF position. Punto +50 points BA. "I've always had a lot of respect for him," said Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire. "He catches the ball. He knows how to play. He's a proven winner."
"In other words, it comes down to whether the Twins would rather have Ellsbury or Lester and Crisp. If that's the case, my hope is that they go with the Ellsbury-based package."
Moss agrees. Plug up CF and the leadoff position for a few years, and get 'er done. If the Twins take Crisp, he's not going to be as productive an OB-guy in the leadoff hole. Lowrie may be able to fill another hole, just not sure which one at this point.
And Lester is probably redundant in about 2 years based on the organization's pitching depth.
If they can get Kalish thrown in, then they should jump all over the deal.
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