From the comments:
Any thoughts on why all the speculation centers on Oswalt and nobody is talking about the Twins outfield situation? The Twins have two outfielders (Span and Cuddyer) and two d.h.s who masquerade as defenders when they grab a glove. Cuddyer could probably use a day off and Span may not play today. I'd love to find a right-handed power bat who can play passable defense to spell the regulars. Such an upgrade is much more important than renting Oswalt at an outrageous price for a couple of months.
The Oswalt speculation is irrelevant to anything.
It's May. We're more than two months away from the trading deadline. I'm not sure the Astros' owner would allow Oswalt to be traded to begin with; if he does allow it, it's not going to be a hasty deal. They'll extract several pounds of flesh, and they should.
So why any speculation connecting Oswalt to Minnesota? (Incidentally, I don't see such speculation outside of Twins-specific coverage; the national baseball media sees more likely suitors.) A few possible factors:
- The locals don't really trust the current rotation.
- The Mauer contract (and the expanding payroll) has us all giddly thinking of the Twins as Yankee-like, or at least Red Sox-like, spenders.
- Oswalt is a somebody.
I'm more or less in agreement on the lack of a true outfield reserve, and I may do a post on the subject in the next few days. But fourth outfielders by definition aren't name players, and only a real geek (such as me) is likely to get fired up over the difference between Ryan Langerhans and Dustin Martin.
0nley and Stark. definately not Minn centric
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MLBTradeRumors
Olney tweets that he's in agreement with colleague Jayson Stark that the Twins are worth monitoring in the Oswalt derby.
re:two d.h.s who masquerade as defenders when they grab a glove.
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Cuddyer’s range seems exposed this season at Target Field. Either he slowed down in a hurry or the HHH Dome hid his range. Take the arm out of the equation and Kubel may not be far off him in covering ground in RF.
Thome is strictly a Dh so he is masquerading at nothing but that.
(Maybe slimmer Delmon is more equipped to go back to his old spot in right right now, shifting Cuddyer to Left).
Roster make up this season reeks of, “We’re happy to be able to compete for our Division and then hope for lightning in a bottle come play-off time.” Our bench players are a downright an indictment of the Twins FO.
No way should Tolbert, Butera be on a MLB roster. Punto caps out at a utility INF on 95% of major league teams.
Ryan Church/Willie Harris type should be on our bench for 4th OF status.
Zaun-ish type C should be backing up Mauer.
A mediocre starting 3rd sacker should have been at least shopped for this off-season.
There is so much pressure on Mauer and Morneau to produce that the Twins margin for error is razor thin over the course of a 162-game season and then into the play-offs. The load falls on them.
Twins front office seems to play the “we can get by with,” card too often. Instead of trying to defeat the big boys they are content to compete with the big boys.
Jacque Jones is the leading hitter for the Rochester Red Wings.
ReplyDeleteCuddy is NOWHERE near the player some Twins fan like to fantasize he is.....limited range and very average batter. Hitting behind the M&M boys he should be racking up rbis and hr's , yet is one of our least productive hitters when the ab's REALLY matter. But its hard to hit a round baseball with a round bat with both hands choking ones self , right Cuddy?
ReplyDeleteWho's "choking ones self"? There's one dangerous bat in the lineup right now and his initials are J.M. and it's not Joe Mauer. The outfield isn't likely to change this season, because of the prospects the Twins have and like. But for heavens sakes, how about a third baseman who can hit and give the offense a few rbi's. That one bat could make a lot of difference. Any one want to offer up some names that makes sense. No pipe dreams please.
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