79 thoughts on “Game 102 Recap: Minnesota Twins 7, Detroit Tigers Chicago White Sox 6 & TRADE DEADLINE”

  3. Man, we haven't seen the Twins name in a serious rumor since Liriano got traded. I figured that if there was one thing the Liriano trade would do, it would be to send the message that the Twins really weren't asking that much...

      2. Eduardo Escobar was a major league utility player before the trade and could become a starting shortstop, pushing Brian Dozier to second base.

        Or to AAA. Is there anyone else besides me that likes Carroll much better than Dozier, regardless of the age difference?

        1. I like Carroll about the same as Dozier right now, but Jamey is likely not the long term answer and Dozier...well, he may be. I guess I'd rather they figure that out.

          1. I'm leaning towards Dozier at this point because of that. His minor league BB:K ratio is pretty good and he wasn't terrible in the minors. I think he could be serviceable. Consider that Butera has a .599 OPS in AA/AAA while Dozier has a .841 OPS, albeit in 470 PAs.

            1. When you are using Butters as a measuring stick, I question the optimism.

              "Dozier is worth 1.4 sticks of Butters"

              1. Considering Butera is a replacement level player, then being better than Butera is good.

        2. In my opinion Eduardo Escobar could become a starting shortstop the way Juan Castro became a starting shortstop, but that's just me.

      3. JC uses the A's as a comp, talking about how trading Gio Gonzalez, Trevor Cahill, and Andrew Bailey during the offseason has helped make them contenders this year.

        1. Gio was sent to the Nationals for starter Tommy Milone (20 starts, 3.51 ERA, 93:26 K:BB, 18 HR allowed in 128 1/3 innings so far this year), catcher Derek Norris (195/262/325 in 84 PA before being sent back down to Sactown), and two minor leaguers. Gio is currently 13-5 with the Nats (3.27 ERA, 137:52 K:BB, 6 HR).

        2. Cahill was sent to the Snakes along with Craig Breslow for reliever Ryan Cook (46:23 K:BB, 1.81 ERA, 2 HR in 44 2/3), starter Jarrod Parker (3.38 ERA, 84:43, 6 HR in 104 innings) and OFer Collin Cowgill (271/343/313 in 108 PA before being sent back to Sacramento). Cahill is 9-9 with a 3.75 ERA, 95:52 and 12 HR. Breslow has a 2.70 ERA with 42:13 and 5 HR in 43 1/3.

        3. Bailey was sent to Boston with Ryan Sweeney for Josh Reddick (265/340/521, 22 HRs as an everyday OFer) and two minor leaguers. Bailey is missing the season after tearing a thumb ligament in spring training and having surgery. Sweeney is hitting 260/303/373 in 219 PA, having started 50 games.

        I think it is a bit of stretch to credit these trades with making the A's a contender. The Bailey trade is a clear, short-term winner thanks to Reddick's hot first half and Bailey's injury. The Cahill trade looks like a short-term push and the Gonzalez trade looks like a short-term push, however.

        The article really boils down to two points: (1) the BS era was not good; and (2) the new rules on FA compensation will make it much, much harder to leverage good value out of teams in return for rentals.

      4. Many people think the Twins traded too long to deal Delmon Young and others, and therefore got little in return.

        Did anyone else notice the blurb over Delmon's photo was, um, poorly proofread?

  4. in regards to the willinghammer, i can see the reasons on both sides. in the end, i don’t think his value will ever be higher, but i’d like the be blown away by the package in return.

    1. i’d like the be blown away by the package in return.

      I usually am of the opinion that most anyone can be a good signing or trade if done for the right price. In this particular sense, I'd prefer the Twins kept Willingham (both for his production and not wanting to scare off future FAs {though I'm not sure how much of a thing that really is for players or how much is people thinking it'd be a thing}), but if the right offer came through I'd want the club to take it.

        1. Same here. Not a whole lot to keep the fans excited beyond Hammer's dongers. Only if someone over-pays big time. (Like that's gonna happen.)

    2. I'm with joe. The Twins rotation is pretty sparse and hammer as a trading chip could definitely help. Only 4 hours to go!

    3. No, no, no. Trading Willingham will send the message to never sign a multi-year free agent deal with the Twins because you will be promptly traded to another team. The idea of free agency is to control your destiny. No free agent will want to see that happen. Anyways, Willingham's contract was a good deal before his monster four months. Even if he goes back to his career norms, he will be worth it.

      And Joe C is asserting that the Twins should have traded away their best starter and one of their better hitters (for that season anyways) after winning the division. I can kind of understand because of the players' histories, but still, the Twins would have needed comparable major league players in return and that would have been difficult.

      1. I don't think it will affect future free agent signings at all. The only ones that wouldn't want to be traded to a contender are the ones that grew up here.

        1. I agree with this. If the Twins go to Willingham and ask him first, than what's the big deal if he's okay with it?

          1. It's all about me and my immediate enjoyment. Next season is forever away and uncertain. Enjoyable pork products are in the here and now.

            2. Well of course, but I'm likely to be not watching a lot down the stretch. Gotta save my good will in the house so that I can spend it on the TWolves.

  5. I was wondering if Hawk was moaning about all the HBP's and how the White Sox will need to send a message. Clearly, they weren't intentional because the game was close, but all were up and in and I could see Hawk getting all riled up about it.

      1. Victorino is going to be a free agent, so definitely better than waiting another year.

    2. Pence's career OPS in AT&T Park is 932. He's been horrible since the A-S break (190/242/241 in 15 games), but otherwise solid (285/352/482 first half). Also, he was much worse at home in Philly (241/318/403) than on the road (300/354/488).

      He could be a difference maker for Los Gigantes, although RF wasn't really an area of huge need (270/351/435 on the season, mostly from Schierholtz and Blanco).

      Victorino, I don't see making a huge difference for LA. He's a platoon OFer at this point (242/301/349 vs righties, 316/393/561 vs lefties this season). He's been hot since the A-S break (357/400/589 in 56 PA), but that hardly wipes out the 245/311/369 first half.

  9. oh, and speaking of trade deadlines: if anyone was wondering, the deadline for trades in the WGOM Half-Bakef Crap League is 08/19/2012.

    1. depends on the haul. DSPAN is pretty cheap, providing something like $2 for every $1 of cost currently.

      1. Rotoworld reporting Span rejected the trade?? Didn't realize he had a no-trade clause.

      2. sean: we were discussing this the other day, but are you fixing all of these twitter embeds, or are they somehow correcting themselves?

            1. Sometimes they work/don't work based on what computer I'm using. I have the same browser on each (Firefox), but I may be using different versions.

              1. after i post them, they're always text, but after a few minutes/reloads, it seems to sink in.

    1. It always depends on what you can get for him, of course. On a totally non-logical level, though, Jared Burton is one of my favorite Twins right now, and I'd really hate to see him leave.

      1. this is (sadly) probably one of the twins best chips right now. solid reliever, dirt cheap (plus, one more year of arb, right?).

        1. Yep, he has another year before free agency. That also means the acquiring team could get compensation for him in free agency, if he is worth the large offer.

  12. A whole 'nuther perspective on Twins' squawkers' obsession with fisting balls through the infield. (Safe for work, really!)

  13. Reds acquire Broxton. Doesn't look like the Royals got a catching prospect from the Reds.

  14. Steve Berthiaume@SBerthiaumeESPNOFFICIAL: #RedSox acquire @CraigBreslow from #DBacks for Matt Albers & Scott Podsednik.

  15. The more Gleeman, Nick N, and Parker discussed the trade deadline, the more it seemed they wanted trades to occur just to have something to talk about. If it does turn out that nothing happened, I'm not going to cry too hard about it - we weren't going to get any killer deals for the pieces we had (Willingham excepted).

    1. Yeah. I think a lot of folks just want to restock our system because they're tired of waiting for Hicks, Sano, et. al. But given that no one seems to value Span or Willingham at rates that will sufficiently provide sure-thing prospects to our system, it seems standing pat might be the better course for now. It's not like one trade is really going to cure what ails the Twins. If the MLB season is a marathon, building a competitive team is several ultra-marathons stacked on top of each other.

  16. Also, Linds just sent me an email saying:

    Subject: Morneau
    I don't see anything...does that mean its all GOOD?????????????????

    1. I'm good with that. As they say, the best trades can be the ones you don't make. We have no way to know, but I doubt there were any great offers out there.

  18. matthew pouliot marks the twins in the losers column:

    Minnesota Twins: The Twins got next to nothing for Francisco Liriano from the White Sox last week and then did nothing at the deadline, even though they had Josh Willingham, Denard Span and Glen Perkins all in demand. The major league team is going nowhere fast and the minor league system rates among the bottom third in the game, so this was absolutely the wrong path for GM Terry Ryan and company to take.

    2. Easy to say a team should have a fire sale when it isn't your team.

      I'm doubting the other offers for Liriano were that good anyway. He's a rental, the White Sox can't get any compensation, and you can't ignore that he was awful to start the season.

      1. exactly. What the hell are the criteria for being on the "wrong path" here? Terry Ryan's job is to build the value of the franchise and, preferably, to lay a path toward championship contention. Fire sales make zero sense per se.

        They weren't willing to pay F-Bomb $12.5M (or thereabouts) for next year, nor should they have been, given that his production last year and this has been worth well below half that figure per Fangraphs. But it's not like other GMs don't know how to look stuff up on Fangraphs.

      2. Those three points about Liriano and his trade value are all spot on. Add in last season's blech-ness, and I'm pretty happy that the Twins got as much as they did. Now watch Frankie get 20 F-bombs tonight.

          1. Yup, I'm totally cheering for a ton of passed balls and a bunch of dirt darts AJ has to block.

  20. I see Craig Breslow was traded from Arizona to Boston. The Twins should have never released him.

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