Twins Inquire About Adrian Beltre

From LEN III at the Strib Online: "The Twins recently contacted Seattle to inquire about third baseman Adrian Beltre as they look for ways to boost their offense against lefthanded pitching, a club source said.

It's unclear how deep the discussions got, but the Twins decided to act on the internal discussions they had about the Mariners slugger."

In addition: It appears "he's playing through a painful wrist injury, but also being called out by anonymous team coaches for not taking extra batting practice."

over 3 years ago Jesse 8 comments 0 recs |

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Marcel projections for Beltre

I used The Hardball Times’ in-season Marcel projection spreadsheet to gauge Beltre’s true talent level. From this point of the season and out Beltre is projected to hit .264/.322/.448 (.771 OPS) with 72 H, 16 2B, 1 3B, 11 HR and a 22/45 BB/K ratio in 298 PA.

I don’t see how that can be worth any upper-tier Twins prospects, no matter how good his defense is. He would definitely be a nice player to have, but his salary is just too massive.

by PhoenixV on Jul 14, 2008 4:59 PM EDT reply actions

771 OPS

Maybe I’m overestimating the Twins’ players here (I haven’t looked up their splits), but I’d guess they could get at least somewhat close to that with the current Buscher/Harris platoon. I realize neither of those guys is any great shakes on defense, and they likely won’t combine for that many homers, but this seems like a marginal upgrade for a pretty steep cost, unless you can get the Mariners to either pay part of Beltre’s salary or take lesser value and treat it as a salary dump.

"There are only two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein

by BeefMaster on Jul 14, 2008 5:54 PM EDT up reply actions

I dunno

I doubt he would cost much in prospects, given the money he’s owed this year and next. And the Twins can afford it. Beltre is actually pretty consistent, if you just forget about the great year he had for the Dodgers. He’s an above average hitter with an emphasis on slugging, and a terrific fielder. Further, though he’s owed 13 million next year, that really isn’t such a commitment given the salaries today, especially for only one season.

Another player whose name has been batted around in Kevin Kouzmanoff of the Padres. He’s a similar hitter to Beltre, actually, and a reasonalbe, but not great defender. The Padres want to move Chase Headley to 3rd, so he might be available. (His numbers are depressed-especially his slugging-by PETCO).

Here’s the thing, though—Kouzmanoff isn’t even arb eligible for another year. This means he’s cheap salary-wise, but will be expensive player-wise. I’d rather spend the cash on Beltre, I think.

by Eric in Madison on Jul 14, 2008 5:20 PM EDT reply actions

Kouzmanoff

Would be worth a decent amount in prospects. I just don’t understand how to value our prospects. For instance, would you trade Span, Hughes and Swarzak for Kouzmanoff. Would they take it?

by snolls on Jul 14, 2008 5:27 PM EDT reply actions

The strange thing about LENII's story...

...is the vague reference to the “internal discussions they had on the slugger”. What does that mean? Did they want to pursue it further? Did they want to drop it and look elsewhere? Either could be true given LENII’s words. Why refer to internal discussions without specifying what they amount to? For the 5000th time, I’m left scratching my head by something he wrote. I just rarely get him.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Jul 14, 2008 5:38 PM EDT reply actions

Given those injuries

I’m not sure how much I want him. Although that could also mean he would come a lot cheaper.

http://noblingblings.blogspot.com/

by Aaron Fix on Jul 14, 2008 6:54 PM EDT reply actions

If it's a cash deal...why not?

I’m a little skeptical about throwing players at Beltre unless they are already useless to the Twins. How About Hernadez for Beltre? But still a cash deal would be better.

We can say all we want about how to work out the defenses and who is better than who, but we still haven’t enough bats to hit lefties, so we need to pick up a RH bat.

"I don't think it's nice, you laughin'. See, my mule don't like people laughing. He gets the crazy idea you're laughing at him. Now if you apologize, like I know you're going to, I might convince him that you really didn't mean it . . ."

by Skippy tastes better than Jiff on Jul 15, 2008 12:16 AM EDT reply actions

trade

How long can Buscher keep it up? He’s doing a great job over there and deserves the opportunity to keep playing. I wonder if the talk of aquiring a 3rd is to light a fire under some arsses.

Beltre is a good pickup for a win now team.

by doofus on Jul 15, 2008 10:35 AM EDT reply actions