- The Twins made the first blunder this off-season, releasing Randy Ruiz to reportedly open another spot on the 40 man roster. Readers of this space know who I feel about Randy Ruiz. It is bothersome that this comes from a team that has 5 catchers on the 40 man roster, re-singed the AARP-eligible Redmond as the back-up catcher for next season, and having several older career minor league non-prospects in that roster. Good luck Randy, you deserve a 25 man roster spot and you'll get it, but unfortunately not with the Twins. There are strong rumors about Ruiz going to Japan; we'll have to wait and see.
- Apparently the shortstop market has become a buyer's market after the singing of Rentaria by the Giants and the trade for Greene by the Cardinals: The A's pulled off the table their offer to Furcal ($35-40M for 4 years). The Tigers are looking at Jack Wilson and Adam Everett, Orlando Cabrera is still out there as they are the lesser free agent shortstops (Alex Cora, Juan Uribe, Cesar Izturis et. al.). The Twins do have 2 internal options (3 if you add Plouffe), Steven Tolleson, who supplemented a great season in AA last year with a phenomenal AFL performance and Alejandro Machado who in his first year with the Twins' organization, after sitting all 2007 out with injuries, hit .338/.376/.472 in Rochester, primarily as a second baseman. Depending how the market goes, I would not be surprised if the Twins wait until late and if Furcal is available come January/February make him a 1-2 year contract offer. The Furcal situation also affects the Blake situation, because if the Dodgers sign Furcal, they will probably be out of the running for Blake, making the Twins the only team with an offer on the table.
- I have been updating with signings my Minor League free agent potential target list. A couple of players have already singed with other clubs.
- Meanwhile, it looks like, finally, the names "Wigginton" and "Twins" are being placed in the same sentence. Earlier (time flies, it has been almost 2 months), I suggested that Wiggington should be one of the 4 real targets for third base help this offseason. Speculation is that Wigginton might cost just prospects of the caliber the Padres received for Greene.
12/6/08
Catching up
Not many news are expected this weekend (a travel weekend for many officials and reporters to the Winter Meetings in Vegas). A couple of interesting notes (and I am not going to harp on the the Gardy foot in the mouth situation and potential Delmon Young trade rumors or why the Twins should not give 3 years to Blake):
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3 comments:
Wiggington reminds me a little of Nick Punto. He can play a couple positions (some better than others) and he will have a week or two in the regular season where he is the best bat in the lineup. He wouldn't be terrible, but the Twins should pursue Garrett Atkins if the price is right.
I am really not that high on Atkins... Why? Check this
Everyone talks about the Coors Field splits which is a good argument, but most players have better home stats than away regardless of what their ballpark is.
The bottom line is that Atkins is better than Punto, Wigginton or Mike Lamb. Even if it comes at a cost of losing a potential talent in the future, the Twins have a chance to win now. The way Baker was pitching at the end of last year and the way that Liriano can be, this team could have done the same thing the Rays did last year. Atkins isn't a Hall of Famer, but he is good enough to win an extra game which would have put the Twins in the playoffs.
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