Wednesday, December
2, 2009
Twins Tidbits
Plenty of rumors
to follow, but nothing to really report, so here are just a few notes… Please
remember to stop by later to see our NFL “Expert” Pick panel’s Week 13 Picks.
·
Yesterday afternoon, Kelly Thesier
tweeted that Brian Buscher had signed a minor league contract with the
Cleveland Indians. He was disappointing in 2009. However, he played so
infrequently, that expecting much of anything would not be fair. I thought in
2008, he was solid. He doesn’t take a ton of walks, but he does seem to take
pitches and put together solid at bats. No matter how you look at it, to get a
guy to contribute in three big league seasons in the minor league portion of
the Rule 5 draft is incredible.
·
Cleveland also signed Luis Rodriguez to a minor league deal. I was always a fan of Luis(!). As you can see, he is the one player in Twins
history to get the one-name name recognition, including an exclamation point!
Although he was never top 30 of 40 prospect, I liked
that he was just solid throughout his minor league career. He always walked as
often or more than he struck out. He hit doubles. He then spent 2005-2007 as a
utility player with the Twins. Over that time, he hit a combined .243/.316/.323.
He has been in San Diego the last two years, getting time as their starting
shortstop a couple of times. In 2008, he hit a respectable .287/..326/.351. In
2009, however, he fell to .202/.319/.260. However, in those two years with the
Padres, he walked 50 times while striking out just 36 times. He isn’t a
terrific athlete for an infielder, and he isn’t quick. On defense, his range
was well below average. But I’m not going to apologize for being a fan of Luis(!).
·
The Twins made the decision late Tuesday night to offer
arbitration to Carl Pavano,
a move that was the easy and right choice. The Twins will want a veteran
starter in 2010. Pavano is that. The Twins have some
wiggle room in spending. So, if Pavano decides to
accept arbitration, the two sides will submit their numbers and determine how
much he will be paid in 2010. I can’t imagine he would get the rumored $10
million, but I think $7-8 million would make sense. Although I’m not a huge fan
of bringing back Pavano, the one year deal means that
it won’t hurt the Twins over the long haul. If he declines arbitration and
signs elsewhere, the Twins will get a valuable supplemental first round draft
pick
·
As I mentioned yesterday, there seems to be quite a bit
of confusion on Danny Valencia and Winter ball. Valencia is going to Puerto Rico, but he will
be playing for Mayaguez, not Ponce. Also, he will be heading down there on
December 10th.
·
When I mentioned the other day that Joe Mauer’s decision to sign with IMG for
off-field representation, I said it was a non-story. But Marty Andrade told me I was wrong saying “it means his autograph is
about to get really scarce and probably increase in value 50% over the next few
years.”
·
Twins Target posted his
#9 Twins Prospect.
Alright, that is it for
today. Are there any other Twins topics of note? If so, Send
me an e-mail, or leave your
Comments here.