What are the Twins Waiting For? Answer: The Trade Deadline

The Minnesota Twins must not have liked what they saw this offseason. They passed on Casey Blake, they passed on Mark DeRosa, and they are passing on Joe Crede, Adrian Beltre, and Ty Wigginton.

So what possibly could the Twins be thinking?

Minnesota must not have thought the price of DeRosa or Blake was worth the premium on production of a Buscher/Harris platoon. Crede seems to be too much of a health risk. Beltre and Wigginton seem to be too pricey. Gun-shy from the previous failures of similar signings in Mike Lamb and Adam Everett, it may be the case that the Twins want to play the wait-and-see game, that is, until the midseason trade deadline.

The hope is that someone emerges at the trade deadline that either has a bigger bat or comes at a smaller price. If the Twins are in contention at midseason, they pull the trigger on somebody that helps push them over the hump, knowing that it will be money well spent. If Minnesota is already out of contention by the trade deadline, they wouldn’t have wasted precious dough on someone that probably wouldn’t have made up the difference of them being in or out of playoff contention. At that point, management would probably just wait and see how Danny Valencia has progressed, a third base prospect the organization is pretty excited about.

In other news: Kenshin Kawakami signed a three year deal with the Atlanta Braves. It was wishful thinking that the Twins would pick him up and round out our opening day staff, but it certainly wasn’t a necessity. No rumor on the price tag.

LEN3 reports that the Twins do not seem to be in the running for Joe Crede as his health risk is a factor. Only in the case that Crede “is healthy” and “lets it be known that he’s not afraid of Field Turf for one season” that the Twins would give him a shot. He’s thirty years of age and hasn’t played a full season since 2006, do the math.

In more exciting news, the Twins may take a look at Chad Cordero who played long toss for several teams this week. Cordero missed quite a bit of time after shoulder surgery but certainly could be a nice 8th inning setup man, especially if he returns to a glimmer of his previous form. Currently the Diamondbacks, Brewers, Mets, Rangers, and Tigers seem to be taking a look.

Also, former Twin J.C. Romero got busted for doping. He’s denying it.

Quick AL Central Round Up:

Cleveland signed Carl Pavano to a one year, $1.5 Million deal with $5.3 more in incentives. Seems to be pretty low risk at that price, but again, he’s already guaranteed more than almost our entire staff this season, which is amazing to think about. Couple this with the DeRosa signing and its apparent the Indians are trying to close some much needed gaps from last season.

The White Sox may be looking to deal Jermaine Dye. This would be a huge boost to the rest of the AL Central as Dye always seems to be the toughest out in Chicago.

The Tigers seem to be pretty quiet right now, only eyeing a little relief help.

Kansas City signed utility man Willie Bloomquist to a 2 year, $3 Million dollar deal. Just pointing out that’s less than half the price of Punto.

Kenshin Kawakami Opens the Door for the Twins

112 Wins

1328 Strikeouts

Japan’s Central League MVP

That’s Kenshin Kawakami, the pitcher who’s drawn the interest of 7 big league ball clubs, including the Minnesota Twins.

Wait a second, the Twins?

One could certainly make the argument that a team can never have enough arms, but with Liriano, Baker, Slowey, Blackburn, Perkins, and the possibility of a Humber, Swarzak, or Duensing sighting, the Twins seem to be relatively full in the bullpen, especially when it’s been so obvious that they need the help at 3B.

Here’s what Kenshin Kawakami does for the Twins: He opens up the door to deal pitching. The Twins have the option of reopening negotiations to grab an Adrian Beltre or J.J. Hardy type player that otherwise would be too costly. With Kawakami, the Twins have another arm to ante up with the Brewers or Mariners. Using Kawakami as trade bait himself, or possibly being more willing to send a Scott Baker away in order to get a J.J. Hardy, the Twins would certainly have more trade options.

And if no deal was made, we start our season with a devastatingly deep rotation including Liriano, Baker, Slowey, Kawakami, and Blackburn, enough to excite any fan. The Twins could go with a very deep rotation or a much more potent offense, either way it would invigorate some life back into this club after a very slow offseason.

Let’s just hope this doesn’t turn into a bidding war.