Minnesota Twins 2009-2010 Off-Season

[MorseMoose]

1. Make sure Carlos Gomez has a complete list of housing options in Rochester, N.Y., so that he will be comfortable while spending the 2010 season as the Red Wings' starting center fielder.

2. Get out from under the last half of Nathan's large contract (two years, $22.5 million) by trading him. The Cubs might take him.

3. The way the Twins treat a closer, it's the easiest job in baseball. Eddie Guardado did it successfully with a slider that broke two inches. With Nathan gone, tell Jose Mijares to show up in shape and he gets the first shot.

And who knows? You might have funky Pat Neshek back as the righthanded half of a closing duo.

4. Speaking of shape: Tell Francisco Liriano to show up 15 pounds lighter in Florida to demonstrate a renewed commitment to pitching, or suggest that he rent the other half of the duplex occupied by Gomez in Rochester.

5. Don't spend any money at third base. Give every inning and every at-bat in exhibitions to Danny Valencia and Luke Hughes; the guy who does the best at the end of March gets the job.

6. Install Nick Punto as the everyday second baseman. He's good all over the infield but he's a difference-maker defensively at second base.

7. Find a shortstop. Cabrera brought a lot to the team in two months, but his average fielding could turn subpar on the Target Field grass.

8. Jon Rauch has a contract. Matt Guerrier remains valuable. Beyond that, it's time to rebuild the meat of the bullpen with guys with serious out pitches, such as Anthony Slama's slider, Alex Burnett's fastball and Carlos Gutierrez's sinker.

9. Play Delmon Young every day -- even day games after night games -- and if he doesn't hit 25 home runs and drive in 85, dump him.

10. Sign a starting pitcher ... a real one, not a Livan.

#1. Yes, please. He's got the options. Let him spend some time in AAA learning "twins baseball"
#2. I hate the closers role to begin with. Like Nathan...but wouldn't mind trading him.
#3. Mijares? That scares me. I'd prefer Neshek, like he mentions in para 2
#4. Of course...Liriano must be ready for 2010.
#5. YES!! Valencia is the guy. Hughes, if he works, is fine with me.
#6. I'd like to agree...but Punto isn't an every day 2B unless...
#7. We get that everyday SS. Cabrera is NOT the answer for the Twins at SS
#8. Yep. The rest is questionable.
#9. YES SIR!! D-Young needs to play consistently. Not keen on dumping him if he doesn't hit 25/85, but play him.
#10. Of course. No question.



In the end, I guess his article isn't anything special. #2 is the only "questionable" choice. But I agree with it. I'd also lose Cuddyer. If Cuddy and Gomez are gone: Young/Span/Kubel are the OF and that frees up the DH role for a solid FA signing or that hitter the twins have in the minors .

[molarmite]

Is Ben Revere almost ready? If we end up trading Cuddyer, would Revere be ready for CF and move Span to right?

I think Eric Lis and Dustin Martin might also be two people to watch this spring training.

[MorseMoose]

Originally Posted by molarmite

Is Ben Revere almost ready? If we end up trading Cuddyer, would Revere be ready for CF and move Span to right?

Probably not. 2010 call-up, maybe. But probably won't see real action until 2011. I like Kubel in right. He isn't great defensively, but his bat must be in the line-up every day. Opens a nice spot for DH.

[TribeFanInNC]

Riddle me this, Batman?

I've seen a couple mentions in this thread about signing FAs or trading at a couple various positions (I think 2B and SP came up). Do the Twins ever do this? I admit I don't follow the Twins, but I certainly can't name even a moderate FA they've signed in recent years. I guess Joe Crede maybe?

I can't imagine they are going to drop $10mil/yr on even a Jake Westbrook-type third starter (I use him only because I know he makes $10mil). Let alone an actual difference maker.

They only scenario I could envision would be a Nathan for prospects trade. I can't imagine anyone would pay much for Michael Cuddyer.

My uneducated two cents as a fellow AL Central follower. Carry on.

[MorseMoose]

Originally Posted by TribeFanInNC

Riddle me this, Batman?

I've seen a couple mentions in this thread about signing FAs or trading at a couple various positions (I think 2B and SP came up). Do the Twins ever do this? I admit I don't follow the Twins, but I certainly can't name even a moderate FA they've signed in recent years. I guess Joe Crede maybe?

I can't imagine they are going to drop $10mil/yr on even a Jake Westbrook-type third starter (I use him only because I know he makes $10mil). Let alone an actual difference maker.

They only scenario I could envision would be a Nathan for prospects trade. I can't imagine anyone would pay much for Michael Cuddyer.

My uneducated two cents as a fellow AL Central follower. Carry on.

No...they don't do this. They'll make the trade (Santana, Garza/Bartlett/Young), but they won't make a splash in FA. The difference this year is that they're getting a new stadium. The hope is that they, getting the new stadium, go out and spend a little dough.

Nathan is a great closer...I just don't see him sticking around much longer. I'm just hoping that with the season Cuddyer had, people will come biting looking for a corner outfielder that can play 1B and 2B and 3B if push came to shove. It's more my hopes that he gets traded as I don't see him as a long term answer or anything that will be consistent now that he's reached the "prime" of his career.

[Jonzard]

Fire JoeMauer

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by jaxmagicman

If you are looking for a 2B, you guys can easily trade for 2-time All-star under 30 Dan Uggla. He is most likely going to be traded from Florida because of his arbitration number. I think he hit 30 homeruns again this year.

Originally Posted by molarmite

I heard that we were interested in Uggla and might trade for him.

Im not sure that Uggla really fits the Twins system very well. They really arent big on guys that dont play defense and strikeout as frequently as he does. Im not saying it would be a horrible pick up but I cant really see them going that direction. IMO they could use a power guy thats right handed.

[jbergey22]

DOLA

I disagree heavily with getting rid of Nathan. He is the only stable person in the Twins pen. He had his worst year as a Twin this past year and he was still arguably the #2 closer in the league. You dont win in this league without a dominant closer as unimportant as people think the position is. Game 4 of this past years World Series was decided by how poorly Lidge was.

[Klew1986]

Adios Carlos Gomez. Just reported on MLB.com and twinsbaseball.com

Traded to Milwaukee for SS J.J. Hardy. Great move by the Twins.

[TribeFanInNC]

Has the potential to be a good move. Gives the Twins a 5 or 6 hole hitter anyway. Tends to be pretty streaky though and doesn't have a great batting eye from what I've seen.

[kingcharlesxii]

The Twins just did highway robbery. What a steal. Even if Hardy doesn't hit more than in 2009 he's still a very valuable player because of his defense.

[TribeFanInNC]

Originally Posted by kingcharlesxii

The Twins just did highway robbery. What a steal. Even if Hardy doesn't hit more than in 2009 he's still a very valuable player because of his defense.

Let's not go crazy here. His 2009 VORP was 0.1. He can't have a .659 OPS and be a 'very valuable player'. He needs to hit closer to 2007/2008.

Still, it didn't seem that Gomez was the answer. Or at least not yet. Maybe in 3 years.

[Jonzard]

[Jonzard]

Originally Posted by TribeFanInNC

Let's not go crazy here. His 2009 VORP was 0.1. He can't have a .659 OPS and be a 'very valuable player'. He needs to hit closer to 2007/2008.

Still, it didn't seem that Gomez was the answer. Or at least not yet. Maybe in 3 years.

VORP doesn't factor in defensive contribution. He was a +1.4 win player in less than a full season in 2009, even with the offensive problems. He’d have been nearly a 2 win player if he hadn’t been sent down solely to postpone free agency.

Plus his BABIP was was abnormally low, at something like .258

[jbergey22]

Gogo will be a decent player athough I dont think his ceiling is very high as a hitter as he is so undisiplined. Will likely win some gold gloves in CF though.

Seems like a good trade.

[TribeFanInNC]

Originally Posted by Jonzard

VORP doesn't factor in defensive contribution. He was a +1.4 win player in less than a full season in 2009, even with the offensive problems. He’d have been nearly a 2 win player if he hadn’t been sent down solely to postpone free agency.

Plus his BABIP was was abnormally low, at something like .258

Right, sorry, I meant to look up WAR not VORP. Work keeps interrupting my baseball conversations

As noted, his WAR last year was 1.4. OK, I guess that still has value. I'm sure all Minnesota fans would rather have the 4-5 WARs he put up in 2007 and 2008.

[MorseMoose]

I'm disappointed to see CG go. He was fun to watch in the field and seemed to have some major upside if he could ever solve the plate discipline issues. That said, the Twins have an abundance of Major League talent in the OF and he was the least desired of the bunch. To pull a dang good defensive SS with a few good season at the plate for your 5th best ML OFer is awesome.

An OFer had to be moved. While I would have preferred to trade Cuddyer (I think he'd have brought in quite a bit), I didn't think a Gomez for Hardy trade was possible and is more desired than a Cuddyer for ?????.

Also, Milwaukee fans will enjoy Gomez. I think he's more of an NL type player anyway and they should just be glad to get rid of Cameron .

[kingcharlesxii]

Originally Posted by MorseMoose

I'm disappointed to see CG go. He was fun to watch in the field and seemed to have some major upside if he could ever solve the plate discipline issues. That said, the Twins have an abundance of Major League talent in the OF and he was the least desired of the bunch. To pull a dang good defensive SS with a few good season at the plate for your 5th best ML OFer is awesome.

An OFer had to be moved. While I would have preferred to trade Cuddyer (I think he'd have brought in quite a bit), I didn't think a Gomez for Hardy trade was possible and is more desired than a Cuddyer for ?????.

Also, Milwaukee fans will enjoy Gomez. I think he's more of an NL type player anyway and they should just be glad to get rid of Cameron .

Why? Cameron has been a great player the last couple of years. Good defense and the 3rd most valuable hitter on the team.

[molarmite]

Does anyone have ESPN Insider to view this, MLB -- Buster Olney -- Whether Joe Mauer stays or goes will tell us a lot - ESPN

[MorseMoose]

Originally Posted by molarmite

Does anyone have ESPN Insider to view this, MLB -- Buster Olney -- Whether Joe Mauer stays or goes will tell us a lot - ESPN

The Scccrappiest® Twins Fans on the Interweb • View topic - Olney on Mauer