The Twins will tender contracts to all 30 unsigned players on the 40 man roster. Some of those names aren’t surprising; the Twins clearly weren’t going to give up on Delmon Young after his monster September and the Carlos Gomez trade. Brendan Harris, despite maybe not being in the manager’s favor, is plenty valuable as a bench bat/utility player. I’m also not surprised that the Twins are bringing back Matt Guerrier and Francisco Liriano. What is somewhat surprising, however, is that they tendered Jesse Crain. Crain certainly showed a lot of promise toward the end of last year, but the fact remains that the bullpen is crowded. The following pitchers certainly have entrenched roles with the club:
Starters: Scott Baker, Kevin Slowey, Carl Pavano, Nick Blackburn
Relievers: Joe Nathan, Jose Mijares, Matt Guerrier, Jon Rauch, Jesse Crain
The Twins also have a number of pitchers who certainly have, at one time or another, showed potential to be a big league contributor:
Starters: Brian Duensing, Anthony Swarzak, Francisco Liriano, Glen Perkins
Relievers: Pat Neshek, Jeff Manship (not quite sure where to put him.)
And finally, the Twins have Anthony Slama and Rob Delaney in the minors, two pitchers who have put up very solid relief numbers and certainly could be ready to pitch in the big leagues this year. In all, the Twins have two or three spots to be had amongst 8 pitchers who probably would get a shot with a major league club in the near future (four starters for one spot; four relievers and four starters for two or three bullpen spots). Consider also that the Twins have stocked up on pitchers from the last draft, and it seems like this club has quite the stash of capable/promising young arms.
After the conclusion of the winter meetings, popular speculation was that the Twins very well could be done making any big moves. With the Pavano signing, the Hardy trade, arbitration to a number of players, and the looming Joe Mauer extension, the Twins look like they may be taking on a $90+ million payroll next year. Further, the free agent options are looking expensive; reports are that Adrian Beltre is seeking a 5 year, $65 million contract, and that Mark DeRosa is looking for 3 years at $27 million. The market also may push Beltre’s and DeRosa’s demands back down to earth. However, it certainly looks unlikely that the Twins will be offering up the kind of moneythat would push next year’s payroll near $100 million (not that I’d be upset about this).
The speculation here is that the Twins are looking to make a trade. This isn’t based on some insider tip; it just seems to me that the Twins have such a surplus of young pitching that at least a few arms are expendable. Given that most teams are always looking for pitching, why wouldn’t the Twins be looking to include these guys in a deal? Thoughts?







