I really hope that the Twins decide to upgrade their roster by not going after a bunch of mediocre players from Walmart (Bautista, Ortiz, Hernandez, White, Sierra, Lamb, Everett, etc) and instead decide to shop elsewhere for some real talent. I would be thrilled to see Billy take this team in a new direction by actually acquiring some A+ talent over the off season like Hardy, Escobar, Beltre, or Atkins.

Bill Smith showed that he was willing to take some chances last off season by trading for Delmon, so maybe we will see some interesting trade propositions again this off season. To acquire any of the talent above, the Twins could explore offers for Blackburn, Perkins, Boof, Cuddyer, Humber, Mulvey, possibly Kubel (still a big fan of Kubel though). I would jsut make sure that Slowey, Baker, and Franchise stay as untouchables.

I just don’t know if we’d get it done outside of offering Slowey or Baker. We could possibly give them Perkins/Blackburn and then 2 to 3 really good prospects like Ben Revere Wilson Ramos type guys.

Sadly we won’t get a guy like Escobar on the cheap. In fact he might not even really be on the table except for in a deal involving a major upgrade like getting Santana last year or Peavy this year etc.

The Padres need to trade Peavy. The Braves really want to trade for Peavy and have a deep enough farm system to do it. I just don’t see how something doesn’t get worked out eventually. Especially since Peavy, the holder of a no trade clause, seems to want to go there.

If it is true that the Braves are keeping Escobar, I think the more relevent information for Twins fans is that Lillibridge will probably be available. I don’t know how highly the Braves regard him after this year, but if the Braves decide to sign a Hamton/Glavine type, they might be willing to deal him for Boof to give them a guy who will be (I think) a decent reliever who could make some starts if the vets get injured. Lillibridge, despite a terrible year, still has potential. Good D, good speed, a history of not totally sucking with the bat.