Well, not a lot of exciting things going on right now in Twins land. The possible trade of Johan Santana is currently on hold, though there are plenty of rumours going around. Let's assume, though, for the fun of it, that Santana is traded, and that the trade brings the Twins at least a starting outfielder and a top pitching prospect. Then, let's also assume the Joe Nathan is traded, these days the worth of a first-rate closer is probably even more than that of a decent starter. The question then arises, where does that leave the Twins? Definitely in a re-building mode, but will the re-building process more closely resemble the mid-eighties, when the Twins put together the  team that eventually won two World Series, or will it be more like the mid-to-late nineties, so eloquently described  by Batgirl as the "years of the great sucking?"

Continue reading "2008: Hope For The Future?"

The Baseball Writer's Association of America today voted Goose Gossage into the Hall of Fame. Gossage was the only player elected, two players with substantial ties to the Minnesota Twins, Bert Blyleven and Jack Morris, were left out.

The only real surprise here is that the baseball writers seem to be getting stingier and stingier when it comes to who they let in to the Hall of Fame. From the vantage point of a small-market, midwest fan, it would be easy to say it's all matter of whether or not you played in in New York, Boston, or L.A., but then Jim Rice and Tommy John didn't get in either.

From a Twins fan's perspective, Jack Morris should be in on the basis of his performance in game seven of the 1991 World Series alone. The rest of his record, as perhaps the best big-game pitcher of his generation, only backs-up the point.

Continue reading "Hall Of Fame Vote; Gossage In, Everyone Else Out"

Yeah, I know, here we go again. This time, an article in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune raises the possibility that Johan Santana could be traded to the New York Mets. For the Twins, such a trade would have the advantage of sending Santana to the national Laeague, where he's a lot less likely to show up in the metrodome wearing the uniform of a competing team.

Palyers rumored to be involved include Deolis Guerra, a right-handed pitching prospect, center fielder Carlos Gomez, and two more pitching prospects, Kelvin Mulvey and Phil Humber, neither as highly rated as Guerra. According to Joe Christensen's article, the Twins have told the Mets they'll make the deal if outfield prospect Fernando Martinez is added to the list. Martinez and Guerra are rated the top two prospects in the Mets' farm system.

Continue reading "Santana To The Mets?"

In the middle of a Minnesota Winter, you're always on the lookout for signs of spring, especially on days like today when you wake up in the morning and the temperature is four degrees below zero. For baseball fans, one of the sure signs of Spring is the start of Spring Training. We mayb not have much in the way of signs of Spring right now, but there were a couple of news items over the weekend that show that Spring Training, at least, is on its way.

First, the Twins, as they are accustomed to doing, signed a couple of veteran pitching projects for their Spring training roster. Zach Day is a right-handed pitcher who underwent rotator cuff surgery in 2006 and pitched last year for the Kansas City Royals Omaha Triple-A team. Randy Keisler is a lefty who started three games last year for the St Louis Cardinals with a 5.19 ERA. Both pitchers are probably long-shots to make the team, but for the Twins to be successful they almost always need some kind of long shot to come through and surprise people.

Continue reading "Signs Of Spring Training"

Was watching Keith Olbermann last night when who should show up on the nightly worst person list than Chuck Knoblauch. Twins fans remember Knoclauch as the second baseman who had some good years with the Twins and was later dealt to the Yankees. He's on the list for ducking subpoenas and refusing to testify in front of Congress about steroid use. Word on ESPN this morning is that Congress is not happy with Knoblauch's failure to show.

If you're wondering why Olbermann is talking about Knoblauch and his mother, click here.

Continue reading "Chuck Knoblauch: Worse Person In The World?"

The Twins gave their fans some good news Friday afternoon when they announced the signings of Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer to long-term deals. Mornea gets $80 million for a six year deal, Cuddyer is getting $23 million for three.

That's a good chunk of the Twins' offence, and they're likely going to need every run those guys can produce. This deal should also help allay some Twins' fans fears that the team was going to let all the young talent go. Add this to Joe Mauer's deal last year and the Twins have an offensive nucleus to build around for the next several years. 

Continue reading "Morneau And Cuddyer Signed Long-Term"

The announcement was just made, the Twins have traded Johan Santana to the Mets for four prospects including outfielder Carlos Gomez, and right-handed pitchers Phillip Humber, Kevin Mulvey, and Doolis Guerra.

Comments from fans over at the Star-Tribune Twins Blog are running about two to one against the trade, the biddest disappointment is that the Twins got no proven major league players for the best pitcher in baseball.

It's a legitimate complaint, but the onus here is really on the Twins scouting department and management. If they figured right, in a year or two the Twins will have a base-stealing lead-off center fielder and a couple of solid starters in the rotation. If not, well, trading Johan Santana and not getting anything in return is the stuff of job losses.

Continue reading "Santana Traded To The Mets"