Here's the latest on the Twins from Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN…
- So far, the Twins have reached out to free agents Brandon McCarthy, Anibal Sanchez, Joe Blanton, Ryan Dempster, and Brett Myers. They're interested in Myers as a starter. They've also reached out to Brandon Webb even though he hasn't thrown a pitch in the big leagues since 2009.
- The club continues to have regular conversations with Alan Nero, who represents right-hander Scott Baker. The two sides are working on a new contract after Baker's $9.25MM option was declined.
- The Twins have not shown any interest in Jon Garland and were not present when the right-hander threw for teams during an audition back in September.
- Talks with reliever Jared Burton about a contract extension are underway. Matt Swartz projects a $2.1MM salary for the right-hander next season, after which he'll become a free agent.
- The Twins have inquired about reliever Randy Messenger, though the Hanshin Tigers in Japan will not allow the right-hander out of his contract.
- The team has not contacted Bill Bray after he hit free agency. Special assistant Wayne Krivsky acquired the left-hander during his tenure as Reds GM.
The sad part is that they’re probably going to settle for Average Joe and overpay for him too
Adding an “average” pitcher like Blanton would be a massive upgrade for the rotation. Beyond that, he’s one of the more underrated arms in this year’s free agent class. Get him out of Philly and he’ll be vastly improved. Homers kill Blanton but he’s still around a 2 WAR pitcher year in and year out, if not better.
Even considering a hitter-friendly ballpark like Citizen’s Bank park, he still posted an ERA+ around 80 the last few years. He is most likely the worst “name” pitcher on the market, and if the Twins truly wanted to enhance their rotation, Blanton is not the best direction to head. I mean, even look at his numbers back when he was in Oakland, his “best” seasons were barely above average. To put that in perspective, look at Scott Diamond who had himself a nice year which only translated to a 2.2 WAR, which is why i don’t believe WAR is the be all-end all statistic to measure value.
I’d take a pair of “average joes” in Saunders & Blanton if we can get them combined for under 8M. That would leave us 5-6 mil for baker and 4-5 for drew (as someone else mentioned below) giving us a full roster and a top four rotation of Blanton, Baker, Diamond, & Saunders. I think it still makes better sense to go after McCarthy though because he is younger – I wish we could afford Sanchez but it doesn’t sound like it.
I am glad the Twins are looking at all options for starting pitching. I hope they make a strong push for McCarthy and resign Baker.
Would love to see Webb healthy and pitching again…
His sinker was inhuman his CY year. Wasn’t he on the Rangers last season?
Sad how he went from being one of baseball’s best to just becoming irrelevant in the matter of just a few seasons.
they don’t have the funds to sign Dempster or Sanchez.
They have the necessary funds to sign these free agents. Whether Terry Ryan chooses to spend what it costs to sign either of them is a completely different story.
Ha that Twins have $100 million payroll, if they wanted to they could sign Hamilton
The Twins have about $25M in payroll coming off the books. They’re losing Pavano ($8.5M), Capps ($4.5M), Casilla ($1.3M), Liriano ($5M), Baker ($6,25M), and Marquis ($3M)… they could sign whoever they please, from a financial standpoint.
The only people who are guaranteed raises are Span, Perkins, Carroll and Burton. Most of those are fairly minor, and they may end up trading Span anyway.
The Twins can, and likely will spend more than they ever have this offseason.
Is span really guaranteed raises? I thought he had a few years(Three?) left on his contract?
yes but his contract is progressive so he will make more this year than last
i agree
Twins will sign Blanton and McCarthy. They will trade Span and Rosario for Shields or Span for Jair and Hanson
Rosario is going nowhere. Especially for a guy that they’d have for 2 years of control on a rebuilding team. If they trade their hitting prospects then it needs to be for young pitching.
if by some bizarro world Atlanta would give us both Jair & Hanson for Span – I’d send the plane today
no one has considered sending Morneau to SEA for a pitcher or two – someone somewhere else suggested Pryor & Paxson – I’d do that in a heartbeat
If Myers isn’t asking for too much, I think he’d be worth the gamble for the Twins.
i agree even if he bottoms out we can use him as a 7th inning guy…although I think our bullpen is pretty much set going into next year: Perkins, Burton, Fien, Roenicke, Duensing, Robertson, and one from (Waldrop, Burnett, & Swarzak)
Who is the most hittable pitcher with nothing more than a straight fastball? Give him a 3 year deal.
Realistically the Twins need to add at least add three starting pitchers. I’d say a Baker, Blanton, and McCarthy top three would be pretty solid. Blanton will at least provide a good amount of innings. And why not Webb on a minor league deal with some very nice incentives if he makes the roster and throws some innings. You could do much worse.
Baker & 1 more should be fine…Diamond & Devries (if healthy) will be in the rotation next year…then they can choose from Deduno, Vasquez, Walters, Hendricks, Gibson for the fifth slot
If they were able to land anyone off this list, which I believe they should be able to, I would like to see Sanchez and or McCarthy. Feels like you could get some decent value for a 2-4 year commitment with either. Don’t necessary hate Scott Baker (AKA Souvenir Maker) but would hate to see the Twins hang their hat on bringing him back; after all he is coming off a serious injury a if any part of any MLB team needs a major overhaul it is the Twins rotation! Lets roll the dice and change things up a little! Bring Baker back only if he is going to be the 3 or 4 man in the rotation and I’ll be happy. I’m just scared they will resign him and say “we have our ace”! Twins fans know what I’m talking about…
No I don’t know what you are talking about…The Twins have never indicated that their offseason revolved around signing Baker. Signing Baker to be the 4/5th guy in the rotation was a fore gone conclusion, if you cannot tell by the article the Twins are checking in with every pitcher with a pulse.
That commenter means signing guys that are 3s at best and calling them the staff ace. Carl Pavano style
Well thats whats out there….How many true staff aces are available? Grienke possibly, but is he going to be worth his contract?
Baker is not the answer! However the front office will re-sign and tell the fan base that they went out and got the Ace that the team needed!The shame is this team has shed 30M+in payroll from last year and Blackburn only has one year left @ 5.5M. Stadium is beautiful and should sell out every game. As much as I would love to see it this team does not need an ace pitcher right now as much as they need 5 pitchers who can give them a chance to compete. There are plenty of those arms available! Overpriced, maybe… but so was Jason Marquis and just about every other reject they have brought in recently! Sign a couple of good – not even great – pitchers to 3yr 40M or so contracts and start building a foundation for your rotation. PS Grienke is not an ace… he is just paid like one!
Nobody is claiming Baker to be the answer, but at the price the Twins can retain him and what he provides at the #5 spot in the rotation, is a move in the positive direction. Like you said we need 5 guys that can give the team a chance. The Twins can target a Marcum/McCarthy in free agency and acquire another young pitcher via trade of Span. The rotation would have Gibson, Diamond, FA acquisition, Trade acquisition and Baker. Certainly no ace in that group but it is a far more stable rotation than before and no big dollars are tied up long-term.
I understand that for the purpose of this conversation we are not claiming that Baker is the answer but the organization certainly will. Mark it down and I will hope to be wrong!
I have been hearing all the right things out of the organization so far. This post actually strengthens my faith with the organization. They are leaving no dumpster unchecked for a quality pitcher.
My prediction for next years rotation… Baker, Diamond, Sky14, Hector S. and what the hell we might as well find something to do with with that stiff Butera. After all Sal Jr. threw a shut out inning last year! Not many who toed the rubber in 2012 with the TC on their cap who can brag about that! – I just hope you are a lefty!
That actually would be an upgrade to last years rotation.
Sad but true! TR will check in on many options… the big question is will he pull the trigger and commit some $’s or part with a surplus of talent to improving the ML roster. Enough of the 3-5 million one year contracts for a never cut it, ripped up arm, over the hill journeymen who could not crack the rotation for 20 other ML teams! Point being, it doesn’t matter who they check in on… until someone takes action. I love this game, I love this team, I especially love that they give me a reason to drink. I just wish they would give me a reason to celebrate!
Oh I completely agree. Aces in FA are hard to find, and even harder tolure to MN. All I was saying is that since Santana, the Twinks philosophy has been to collect a rotation of 3s and 4s and make them pitch to contact, regardless of how nasty they were (Liriano). They then would take the one that was marginally better and say they had their “Ace” and we fans were forced to swallow that nonsense.
Also, I agree with you that there are cost effective moves that would lead to a nice rotation next year, even without a true ace.
Diamond, Gibson, attempt to sign two of Marcum, McCarthy, and Baker. I’d love to see a deal with Atlanta where the centerpieces are Span for Mike Minor.
I have Twins revamping their rotation, Edwin Jackson, Blanton, Jeremy Guthrie and re-sign Baker plus Stephen Drew at SS.
oh Drew would be a great pick up – love that train of thought – I’d also dig Jackson
Because next year is going to be a wash out for this team I think TR needs to lock up some talented rotation guys for the next 3-4 years. I don’t expect them to push for a championship but lets be competitive.
On the bright side… The only real waste of payroll besides about 10-15M per year on Mauer and some coaching is Blackburn’s 5.5 million which will be off the books after this year. For his sake, I just hope Blackburn has not spent that $8M option for 2014 yet because he will never see it! Anyone else not providing value is of the league minimum/arb variety and can be dispatched without taking too big of a loss. – I believe Morneau will be gone before, during or after the upcoming season as well so there is no reason there is no reason not to start putting together a ML rotation and while he is at it I hope TR considers an infielder or two as well.
Go brewers!!!!
The zero stands for no World Series