Any Twins fans on this site?

busabus114

busabus114

Well-Known Member
What do you think the Twins need to do (if anything) before the deadline to hold off the Tigers and suddenly red hot White Sox. I thought the entire Sox team died in early May so their red hot stretch has really caught me off guard.

I think the Twins can win the division with the team they have now but if they want to compete in the playoffs they need a frontline starter like Lee, Oswalt or Haren. Oswalt and Haren would be more than half year rentals like Lee but they would be more expensive. My vote would be to trade Ramos and a couple lower level prospects for Lee. I would either include Blackburn in the deal or move him to the pen to make room for Lee. I dont think the Twins would be willing to take on Oswalts or Haren's contract unless those teams paid for part of the salary

Another bat would also be nice (3B preferably) but i think another starter is the most glaring need.

With Delmon Young finally "figuring it out" this team has the potential to make a big run and be a player in the postseason but they need a top starter to compete with the Yanks and Rays

Curious if there are any other Twins fans out there and what you think they should do
 
I agree with you. It seems like we have a bunch of #2 starters, and are just missing that dominant #1. I'm fine with the offense, and I think they will find a way to win. They have the best manager in baseball IMO and I see them going on a run after the All-Star break. Mauer said recently that the new stadium is less wearing on everyone's knees and legs so they should be fresher than in Septembers past, definitely encouraging
 
The Sox have been playing the Pirates, Nationals and Cubs. I'm more worried about Detroit than Chicago. The Twins really need a 3B. Punto needs to be benched and Cuddyer moved back to RF when Hardy returns. The Twins pitchers need to get mean. They're all control pitchers who throw strikes. They need to brush some hitters back instead of letting them dig in and swing away.
 
They need to do something before the trade deadline in the way of pitching if they want to make a serious run in the playoffs.
If Gardenhire keeps playing Punto, they wont make the playoffs.
Maurer is slumping badly (for him) and should be DH'ing on his weekend rest day instead of riding the pine.
They sent Brendan Harris down, and that was a mistake. Shouldve sent Punto down.
The injury to JJ Hardy came at a bad time, as he was having a pretty good first half, and the middle infield became much much weaker with him out of the lineup . Losing his bat really hurt the most though.
I say make Cuddyer the permanent 3rd baseman and when Hardy gets back(hopefully soon) we will start scoring some runs again.
Pitching is where its at and the starters are way,way to inconsistent at this stage of their careers. If they need to trade any of the starters(save Pavano and Liriano), i say do it if you can get an Oswalt or Lee to come in and get this thing going again. Baker and Slowey and Blackburn are all head cases in my opinion.
Can you tell Im not a Twins fan?
 
Stealthawk said:
They need to do something before the trade deadline in the way of pitching if they want to make a serious run in the playoffs.
If Gardenhire keeps playing Punto, they wont make the playoffs.
Maurer is slumping badly (for him) and should be DH'ing on his weekend rest day instead of riding the pine.
They sent Brendan Harris down, and that was a mistake. Shouldve sent Punto down.The injury to JJ Hardy came at a bad time, as he was having a pretty good first half, and the middle infield became much much weaker with him out of the lineup . Losing his bat really hurt the most though.
I say make Cuddyer the permanent 3rd baseman and when Hardy gets back(hopefully soon) we will start scoring some runs again.
Pitching is where its at and the starters are way,way to inconsistent at this stage of their careers. If they need to trade any of the starters(save Pavano and Liriano), i say do it if you can get an Oswalt or Lee to come in and get this thing going again. Baker and Slowey and Blackburn are all head cases in my opinion.
Can you tell Im not a Twins fan?[/QUOTE]

Yes i can, Harris is hitting 180 for the season and plays subpar defense. Punto is Brooks Robinson compared to Harris
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Brooks Robinson?
I take it you must not know:
a) How many errors Harris and Punto have on the year...
b) That Harris has a cannon for an arm compared to Punto....
c) Harris has played every infield position this season (0 errors)....
As far as the batting average goes, yes, you have a point. But i will say this....its kind of hard to get into a groove at the plate when you are not in the lineup every day. The last 2 years Harris' batting avg., slugging %, rbi totals, any way you want to cut it were way above Puntos sub-Mendoza numbers. Punto is a great utility guy, not an everyday player.
He is nearly an automatic out in the batting order.
Certainly not worth the $5 mil/yr they are paying him! Harris was benched in favor of him earlier this year, and sent down this week because hes cheaper.
 
Anybody been to Target Field?
Was thinking about trying to make it up to a game next month, but so far good tickets are pretty hard to come by when every game is a sell-out.
Good to see they put a beat-down on the Tigers tonight...back into first by a whisker....
 
Stealthawk said:
Brooks Robinson?
I take it you must not know:
a) How many errors Harris and Punto have on the year...
b) That Harris has a cannon for an arm compared to Punto....
c) Harris has played every infield position this season (0 errors)....
As far as the batting average goes, yes, you have a point. But i will say this....its kind of hard to get into a groove at the plate when you are not in the lineup every day. The last 2 years Harris' batting avg., slugging %, rbi totals, any way you want to cut it were way above Puntos sub-Mendoza numbers. Punto is a great utility guy, not an everyday player.
He is nearly an automatic out in the batting order.
Certainly not worth the $5 mil/yr they are paying him! Harris was benched in favor of him earlier this year, and sent down this week because hes cheaper.
Click to expand...

I hate Punto as much as the next guy, just pointing out that the Harris decision really has no impact on the season. They both blow, i think we can agree on that :)

Punto swindling the Twins into a 2 year $8 mil contract was unbelievable. I am hoping Valencia can fill the spot at 3rd in the future because its been a problem area for awhile
 
Stealthawk said:
Anybody been to Target Field?
Was thinking about trying to make it up to a game next month, but so far good tickets are pretty hard to come by when every game is a sell-out.
Good to see they put a beat-down on the Tigers tonight...back into first by a whisker....
Click to expand...

Was up there in April...you need to get up there. Its amazing. My advice would be to go on a weekend and spend the night so you can enjoy the bar atmosphere around the stadium for a night. Its great, we had a blast
 
I'm a Twins fan, not gonna pretend to be an expert MLB GM cause I don't know what they should do.

But the Twins have done pretty well with their moves, guess I'll trust them and hope for the best for the second half of the season.
 
Okay now, I MUST chime in here! First off, Target Field is beautiful! Went up there in May for some Sox/Twins games, absolutely recommend going there. Second, with Zumaya going down, and after their failure last year, I would not worry about the Tigers. Thirdly, the Sox have been playing well late, and though they beat up on the Cubs, Nats, Pirates, I recall sweeping the Braves who were #1 in the NL East.

I will not come out and say that the Sox are going to win it all, or the division for that matter, cause I still think it is the Twins division to lose. We are below .500 against the division this year and have like 40 or so games left against the central, so that is NOT good.

But, for those thinking you are getting Cliff Lee, I would HIGHLY doubt it. The Twins do not typically spend a lot of money on mid-season deals (or any pitcher long-term)and would not expect it here. Gardenhire is a terrific manager and whenever they have needed pitching, their farm system has always come through.

This is a 3 team race to the finish now....Twins first, Sox second, and the Tigers third. Just happy we are buyers now and not selling.
 
Twins could make a run at Lee if they really wanted to (they have the pieces it would take, but will they do it?). The fact they don't spend alot of money on FA or trades was true in the past, but I think if they feel strongly enough about someone they will make it with the revenue the new park is bringing in (35th straight sellout last night I thought i heard). Tigers played the same bad teams the Sox did in interleague play so it's hard for me to get really concerned about the Twins blowing the division considering they had a much tougher interleague schedule than the other 2 plus have half their team on the DL it seems like. Twins always have a midseason swoon and they have fought back from it the last 2 years.
 
Also, on the Punto issue. I'm 100% convinced that Punto has photos of Gardy or Ryan that would incriminate them in some horrible scandal because there is no other explanation for 1) his contact 2 years ago or 2) why he's still playing even with Hardy on the DL.
 
busabus114 said:
What do you think the Twins need to do (if anything) before the deadline to hold off the Tigers and suddenly red hot White Sox. I thought the entire Sox team died in early May so their red hot stretch has really caught me off guard.

I think the Twins can win the division with the team they have now but if they want to compete in the playoffs they need a frontline starter like Lee, Oswalt or Haren. Oswalt and Haren would be more than half year rentals like Lee but they would be more expensive. My vote would be to trade Ramos and a couple lower level prospects for Lee. I would either include Blackburn in the deal or move him to the pen to make room for Lee. I dont think the Twins would be willing to take on Oswalts or Haren's contract unless those teams paid for part of the salary

Another bat would also be nice (3B preferably) but i think another starter is the most glaring need.

With Delmon Young finally "figuring it out" this team has the potential to make a big run and be a player in the postseason but they need a top starter to compete with the Yanks and Rays

Curious if there are any other Twins fans out there and what you think they should do
Click to expand...

Just win every AL central series and everything else will take care of itself.
Actually I'd say they need to go get a lockdown starting pitcher. 2 weeks in it looked like Liriano was that guy, but he's still inconsistant. Joe Mauer also needs to stop hitting line drives directly to the defense. They have his hit zones scouted perfectly. Cuddy needs to refind last year's stroke. All those things happen and guys stay healthy. Nobody will catch them again.
 
AcctHawk99 said:
Also, on the Punto issue. I'm 100% convinced that Punto has photos of Gardy or Ryan that would incriminate them in some horrible scandal because there is no other explanation for 1) his contact 2 years ago or 2) why he's still playing even with Hardy on the DL.
Click to expand...

Actually Punto battles at the plate but isn't always rewarded. His defense is far superior to most other infielders in the league. There's a reason he was dubbed "a Piranha". Take him away from the team and let's see how they do. I have a bigger problem with Gardy putting Cuddyer at 3rd. How many hits does he have to allow to get through over there before he realizes that's not a good idea?:mad:
 
Punto's best position is a utility infielder - sparing the starters a day of rest.

Pitching is clearly an issue with Baker, Slowey, and Blackburn all struggling. Seattle will get a good prospect for Lee, no doubt. But the package will certainly be centered around a prospect (such as Ramos) as well as 2-3 fillers. They won't be able to get near the haul that past teams have gotten, simply because he will more than likely be a rental.

The front office realizes they have a great opportunity to go for it this year. They can afford it from a financial standpoint given the increased revenue from the new stadium. I read an article in the Star Trib the other day where some front office personnel were quoted as saying they were even shocked at the revenue jump provided thus far by the stadium. I guess it has significantly exceeded projections.

It just depends on how the Twins go about it. Are they willing to go after Lee knowing he's a rental, or do they target someone like Dan Haren, who is signed relatively reasonably and they would control for the next couple of years.

The Mariners have said they desire pitching and young bats in return for Lee, and pitching is something the Twins happen to be very deep on right now. Ichiro is not getting any younger, so maybe a package of Ramos, Duensing, and Ben Revere are enough to pry Lee away.

I do think Minnesota is a better match for the Mariners than any other team right now. And it also helps having Pavano on the team, as he and Lee remain close friends.
 
Herkeynerd said:
Actually Punto battles at the plate but isn't always rewarded. His defense is far superior to most other infielders in the league. There's a reason he was dubbed "a Piranha". Take him away from the team and let's see how they do. I have a bigger problem with Gardy putting Cuddyer at 3rd. How many hits does he have to allow to get through over there before he realizes that's not a good idea?:mad:
Click to expand...

Agree with you completely on Cuddyer...I watched part of one of the Brewers games when they first moved him back there and there was a ball hit maybe 3 feet to his left that he dove for and couldn't get. There was a reason they moved him to the OF when he was younger...

On another post, if we offered Ramos, any of our pitchers, and one of our prospects not named Aaron Hicks or Kyle Gibson (both in top 25 prospects according to Keith Law of ESPN) for Lee I think they should take a stab at it. worst case he walks and Twins get 2 1st round picks from whoever signs him essentially filling the gaps left from the trade or they have the money to sign him to some type of deal as long as it's not sabathia like.
 
Happens every time i talk smack about Baker, Slowey and Blackburn........

Last night Blackburn shuts down the tigers, today Slowey does the same.

Now do it again next time out!

Go Hawks!
Go Twins!
 
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