UPDATE: Twins make offer to Jarrod Washburn
January 6, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010:
According to La Velle E. Neal, the Twins offer of $5MM for one year was rejected by Washburn.
It is likely that Scott Boras is trying to shop his client around for a better deal as he did with Joe Crede in 2009. At that time the Twins offered the veteran third basement a low salary that was loaded with performance incentives. The initial offer was rejected, but when no one else showed interest, Crede accepted the Twins initial offer.
With a strong pitching staff the Twins have a luxury in that they can wait this out if necessary as another veteran pitcher is simply a luxury at this point with Francisco Liriano, Glen Perkins and Brian Duensing all fighting for the fifth spot in the rotation.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010:
According to a post by Scott Miller at CBS Sports, the Minnesota Twins have made an offer to Jarrod Washburn. The club is waiting for a response from the left-hander this week according to Miller’s sources.
There is no mention of how much the offer is, but Minnesota is very intent on landing the left hander.
Jarrod Washburn
The Twins claimed the 35 year old Washburn off of waivers from the Mariners late in 2008, but no deal could be reached to bring him to Minnesota.
Washburn’s reputation of being a good guy to have in the clubhouse and his experience as and MLB pitcher makes him a good fit for the Twins organization who are looking for some veteran help for their young staff. Washburn’s Upper Midwest roots are important to him as well, as he has stated he was looking to play for a club closer to home.
A knee injury sabotaged Washburns 2009 season, that began in Seattle and was traded to Detroit before the injury cut his season short. After going 8-6 with a 2.64 ERA over 20 starts in Seattle, Washburn was only 1-3 with a 7.33 ERA in eight starts for the Tigers before being shut down.
The Twins earlier this winter offered Carl Pavano arbitration and he accepted after the testing the market for a short time. The club returns several young starting pitchers in Scott Baker, Kevin Slowey, Nick Blackburn, Francisco Liriano and Glen Perkins on a team that won the American League Central division in ’09.
Many analyst are looking at the trade as a way for the Twins to shore up their strong rotation and allow them to trade one or two of their young strong arms for a third baseman. Kevin Kouzmanoff of the San Diego Padres was mentioned in a Perkins for Kouzmanoff trade, but the Padres wanted more then the young left hander and the Twins decided to hold out as there were several free agent third basemen on the market. Since then most of the top players at the hot corner have signed with other ball clubs, leaving Kouzmanoff as one of the few remaining quality third basemen.
There has been a lot of chatter lately about how happy the Twins have been with Liriano’s off season progress. If the reports are correct, he is close to returning to his 2006 form. It is possible that if the Twins are able to land Washburn, they will be able to sweeten the offer to San Diego for Kouzmanoff and still keep a strong rotation.
New Year update
January 1, 2010
The year 2009 ended quietly for the Minnesota Twins. There was no Christmas signing of Joe Mauer and there was no moves to shore up third base.
Joe Mauer
As the new year comes in, the list of available free agent third basemen continues to shrink. The San Francisco Giants agreed to terms with Mark DeRosa just before the end of the year. The 35 year old third baseman reportedly signed a two year $12MM deal with the Giants. The Giants also are reportedly very close to signing Juan Uribe which would give them a versatile roster.
The St Louis Cardinals will receive a supplemental draft pick for their loss of DeRosa. The Cards reportedly never made a formal offer to DeRosa according to Derrick Goold.
A Twins blog named Twins Overlook has an article that gives a run down of seven Twins prospects. Nothing significant, but gives many Twins fans an idea of some of the prospects the Twins have playing in Rochester and Beloit.
Nick’s Twins blog has a nice article about next years projected starting rotation. Although I don’t personally agree 100% of Nick’s assessment (Nick Blackburn has a lot to offer the Twins), it is a nice look at who will be fighting for the fifth spot if the Twins don’t make any other moves in the off season.
Third base options
December 17, 2009
The Twins have made some exciting moves in the off season, but one glaring spot on the field has yet to be addressed in the minds of Twins fans… third base.
The Twins have used 17 different players at the corner position since Corey Koskie left after the 2004 season.
The faithful who are happy to go into next season with Brendan Harris, Nick Punto or even Joe Crede will argue that the Twins have already made enough changes to get them to the next level of the playoffs. But have they really done enough so far to compete with teams like the Angels, the Red Sox and even the dreaded Yankees?
There have been many third basemen on our wish list of players, but the list is starting to dwindle down to less then a handful of viable options. Players who we thought might be good fits in Minneapolis/St. Paul such as Pedro Feliz and Garrett Atkins moving on to other teams.
Who is likely out
Adrián Beltré is one player many would have liked to have seen in a Twins uniform last year. Now with Chone Figgins going to Seattle, the third baseman is sure to be moving to a new team, but his asking price is putting him out of the reaches of even teams like the Boston Red Sox. Although we would like to see the Twins pick up a quality third baseman, Beltré price tag is likely going to keep him from wearing a Twins uniform in 2010.
Mark DeRosa is another player the Twins are familiar with and has been mentioned. The Cardinal third baseman is reportedly asking for some serious compensation as well and if what we hear is true about his asking price ($24-27MM for 3 years), we can definitely agree with the Twins passing on him.
Who is left
Kevin Kouzmanoff is a player we definitely would like to see next year. The young Padre third baseman has a great glove and some power behind the plate. The Padres have been rumored to want to move him to a few teams with the Twins being one of them. The Twins have offered pitcher Glen Perkins who the Padres believe could be in the middle of their rotation, but rumor is that the Padres want more. We have discussed this here and wouldn’t mind the Twins sending a package deal with Perkins. The Padres have some young outfielders, so we are not sure if they would be interested in someone like Ben Revere, but he would be someone we could dangle.
Juan Uribe is another corner man that the Twins have expressed interest in. The current Giant has a small price tag, but when we think of Juan Uribe, we think about the 8th inning error that broke up Jonathan Sánchez’s perfect game. That play shouldn’t define him, but that is the first thing we think of when you bring up his name.
Joe Crede is the last man on our list. The 3rd baseman is coming off yet another back surgery and says he is healthy. Chances are he would be willing to sign another incentive base contract, but it is obvious he is not the player he once was with the Whtie Sox. There is a good chance that getting out of the Metrodome will help ease any back problems, but we like to think of him as a worst case scenario option.
The fact is that the Twins have a possible all start third basement in Rochester, but it isn’t likely we will know what his true potential is until 2011. Danny Valencia has been touted as the biggest prospects for the Twins, but his development has been slow and there is no indication that the Twins want to bring him up any time soon.
Signing Kouzmanoff would be a treat for Twins fans as it would give them a young powerful third baseman with a glove.
Red Sox and Phillies interested in Mahay?
December 9, 2009
Reporters in Boston and Philadelphia have sent out Tweets about their local teams being interested in free agent lefty, Ron Mahay. Andy Martino in Philadelphia wrote that there was mutual interest from both the Phillies and Mahay, while Michael Silverman in Boston wrote that they have called to express interest.
Mahay came over to the Twins in a late season move after being designated for assignment by the Kansas City Royals. After being picked up, the left-handed pitcher made 16 appearances with the Twins and posted a 2.00 ERA in nine innings of work. His combined ERA for both clubs in 2009 was 4.29 with 42 strike outs and 22 walks in 50.1 innings.
Mahay is one of four free agents that the Twins did not offer arbitration. The others players are Orlando Cabrera, Mike Redmond and Joe Crede. Carl Pavano is the only free agent who was offered arbitration, who accepted the offer on Monday night.
Pavano pressing for multi-year deal
December 7, 2009
According to a few, Carl Pavano is rumored to be pressing the Twins for a multi-year deal.
Ken Rosenthal tweeted that Pavano is still undecided about accepting the Twins arbitration offer according to Pavano’s agent.
Another tweet from Tim Brown says that Pavano’s agent Tom O’Connell, has been pressing the Twins for a multi-year contract in a Sunday night meeting with the team.
It shouldn’t be a surprise that Pavano is looking for a multi-year deal, but many Twins fans were hoping the Twins could sign him with an incentive laden short term deal. With a career filled with injuries, a multi-year deal could be a hard pill to swallow for the Twins assuming Pavano accepts arbitration.
Twins offer Arbitration to Pavano
December 1, 2009
According to a “tweet” by La Velle E. Neal of the Star-Tribune, the Minnesota Twins have offered arbitration to Carl Pavano.
Carl Pavano
The Twins have expressed a sincere interest in signing Pavano who provided the Twins a much needed boost the second half of the season. Pavano had a 5.1 ERA with 147 strikeouts and 39 walks over almost 200 innings for both the Indians and the Twins in 2009.
Pavano is a Type B free agent, so if Pavano departs the Twins, the organization will be compensated with a draft pick. His salary in 2009 was $4.35M.
Domo Arigato Mr Morillo
November 16, 2009
According to npbtracker.com, right handed pitcher Juan Morillo has signed with Hanshin Tigers of Japan.
Morillo was just recently added to the 40 man roster and would mean the Twins will have to be compensated for Morillo.
Japan is also rumored to have signed Justin Huber who was just out righted to Triple A Rochester.
Punto to the Padres?
December 5, 2008
Utility Infielder Nick Punto
There are a lot of shortstops on the market now and the Twins have two free agents at that position this year. Everett is already in talks with the Tigers and Nick Punto has been in talks with the Twins.
The Twins seem to not have any priority in signing Everett at this point and have instead focused their attention on Nick Punto. Punto was a starter for the Twins for four years, but has taken on the role of utility infielder as of late.
With the market saturated with shortstops, it isn’t real likely that San Diego is too worried about filling the position right away, but the Twins might just want to step up the negotiations with Punto. There has not been a lot of interest for Punto so far this season. Other then the Twins, only the Phillies and the Mets have showed interest thus far, but all three teams are looking at Punto as a utility infielder and not a starter. The Twins negotiations with Punto have started, but they are slow at this time.
Although it is not likely, the San Diego could look to pick up Punto to fill the void this season. Nick is from the San Diego area and would likely fall into the salary range that the Padres are looking for. He has been a starter for four years and his 2008 numbers are better then the outgoing Khalil Greene who struggled offensively in 2008. If the 31 year old Punto is looking to get a little closer to home as he nears the end of his career, this looks like an opportunity for both San Diego and Nick Punto.
