Sunday, October 21, 2007

Twins Prefer Lefties

The Twins have a new GM coming into the off season and he has already made a conscious effort to turn things around. He understands that he might lose both Carlos Silva and Torii Hunter, but won't go down without a fight: "The reality with Torii Hunter and Carlos Silva is that it's a two-way street," Smith said. "It's done through negotiation. But if they don't want to come back, they have that option. So we have to have a Plan A if they're back and a Plan B if they're not." The Metrodome's dimensions play in favor to lefty pitching and lefty hitting, so it makes sense that they will look to players who will benefit from that. It is 327'' down the right field line and 343'' down the left field line so you can see how it helps. Look at their lineup right now: Mauer, Morneau, Punto, Kubel, Santana, and Liriano, it is mostly lefties. The short wall in right field helps the hitters while the big outfield in left helps the pitchers. That's why recent reports that suggest Chien-Ming Wang to the Twins and Santana to the Yankees seem foolish. "I think that's a fair statement," speaking on lack of depth. "We'll try and address that. If we are able to make any trades, it could involve trading pitching depth for position-player depth. We have more pitching depth at the higher levels than position-player depth." Although they may not want to trade in their division, Cliff Lee of the Indians would be a good choice. Not only is he a lefty, but is 2-1 with a 4.78 ERA in six games there and has experience against the division. Another pitcher that they would not have to give up much for is twenty-two year old Ryan Feierabend. Looking at hitters, players that should be available include Jacque Jones, Connor Jackson, Michael Bourn, Edgar Renteria, among others. However, they really do not have much leverage in the minors to acquire some of these players so may look to raise the payroll. They could try to bring back Luis Castillo, sign Cesar Izturis, Corey Patterson, and maybe even Barry Bonds. Bill Smith plans to be as aggressive as possible and hopefully the Twins can return to the top of the division where they stood for several years.

UPDATE: According to the MLB Rumors East Coast Correspondent Steve Wilson, the Yankees are preparing a trade involving Melky Cabrera, Ian Kennedy, and at least two minor league prospects for Johan Santana while shopping Johnny Damon around. Although this has not been confirmed, it is believed that the Yankees will pick up most of his salary to improve what they get in return. From there, they hope to add either Kosuke Fukudome, Corey Patterson, Aaron Rowand, or Coco Crisp, if they become available.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

is that all it would take to get santana because im sure the dbacks could do something like that...maybe even the dodgers too

Anonymous said...

Wow sounds like he's gonna be a lot more agressive than TR.

I hope Smith goes wit da FLOW even though i'm confused about the lefties....

Krycek said...

The Twins would be morons to do that proposed trade, like someone said before, they could get so much more back with Johan.

Anonymous said...

melky=very overrated.. Idk why people like him at most he brings .280 15 homeruns.. he has no range and a strong arm..

Ian Kennedy IS VERY VERY overrated.. I don't see how he is much better then a Kevin Mulvey..

Unless Hughes/Joba is in the deal the Twins are getting ripped..

timy1 said...

Steve Wilson just proposed a ridiculous idea that can only come from a yanks fan. Santana is worth a whole lot more.

just like what other people have said, other teams have way better players to trade. such as the dbacks and dodgers.

those two yanks propects better be at the cusp of stardom, and we arent talking Hughes b/c he's a righty.

and if the twins want lefties, that only leaves a few teams with great lefty prospects.

yanks better hope santana goes FA.

Anonymous said...

STEVE WILSON HERE-

this isnt a final trade-simply preparing a deal

Bryant said...

I don't see the Mariners just giving away Feierabend. He had a horrible year...but he has good stuff and figure too be a number 3-4 starter.

If the Mariners pursue Santana, which they will, it is possible Feierabend could be in the package

Anonymous said...

Johan for Kemp,LaRouche and Kershaw