Tuesday, December 11, 2007

All Quiet on the Midwestern Front

I realize it's December in the middle of Minnesota, but I think I just saw a tumbleweed roll by outside. Not much going on in Twins-land right now.

I don't have much to write about today. The Santana trade talks have seemingly quieted down for the time being, and it's tough to analyze any of the Twins' other pressing issues until that situation gets sorted out. I've heard Brandon Inge's name mentioned as a possible third base solution for the Twins... going to have to give that one a big fat no. He's basically Nick Punto with more power -- not worth the money he'll make or the prospect the Twins would have to give up to get him.

Several Mets fans showed up in the comments section on Friday's post and gave some first-hand viewpoints on the prospects being mentioned in Johan Santana trade rumors. If you haven't read through them, it's definitely worth checking out.

Have a good Tuesday. I know I will... officially less than one week left of school this semester!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have not heard anything about how Jessie Crain is doing in his rehab. Is it progressing well, and will he be able to pitch at some point next year? Also, when there is talk about the Twins young pitching I never see much on Glenn Perkins and I dont undstand why. He is young, is a left hander, pitched well out of the bull pen until he got hurt and I would think he would be a possible candidate for one of the starting roles.

SL__72 said...

First, Crain, Reyes and Liriano are all supposedly going to be ready for spring training.

I don't think the Twins can plan on penciling Perkins in to the rotation at this point but he certainly still has some value. He has always had a little bit of a control problem, so seeing how his control is after he comes back should be interesting. For now I would say he is a spot starter/long reliever type with his upside being a solid #3 starter.

And I agree on Inge. He certainly represents a big improvement over Punto at 3rd (like 100 points of slugging and better defense) but he is a year older then Punto and is a 31yo fringe MLB player getting payed $6m/year. Obviously that isn't a ton in today's MLB, but I think a Macri/Buscher platoon could be almost as good and that costs less then $1m.

Nick M. said...

Yeah I would hate a Inge trade. You can't give any prospects for a guy like that. He's getting paid over $6 million and he has a career OPS under .700. Sure, he has some power, but he hits for a very poor average and lacks any plate discipline to make up for it. So, in a way, he's a poor man's Craig Monroe in the infield and he's getting paid more than Monroe. Normally, you don't give up anything to get that. So, I would hope the Twins go with a different plan unless the Tigers plan to pay us to take Inge.

Nick N. said...

I've been unable to track down any news on Crain, but I strongly doubt he'll be ready to pitch by spring training. The Twins would be luck to get any effective production out of his in 2008, in my opinion.

Kevin said...

Heyman's Santana update on SI

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/jon_heyman/12/11/tuesday.scoop/

As a Met fan, I don't like how teams are trying to fleece us.

For us, someone like Reyes has to be included, our superstar, but when it comes to boston and the yanks, they dont have to give up buchholz or joba.

We're the only team willing to offer up our best 2 pitching prospects, a project player whos ceiling is Alex Rios with better defensive and speed tools and a top midlevel player..