Armchair GM: How can we finally beat the Yankees in the post-season?

by dctwin on Jun 1, 2010 4:35 PM EDT

Because west coast games also have the unfortunate effect of pushing out gamethreads a few hours, I need to kill some time with my afternoons this week. Therefore, for your unnecessary but oh-so-fun speculating pleasure, I present the "how can we best assure ourselves that we will get to the post-season and, more importantly, how can we finally beat the Yankees (ok, or the Rays...) in the post-season" poll!

I gave you fairly limited options, so if someone thinks we should sign a free agent catcher or first baseman, you'll have to explain (and, more importantly defend - I mean seriously) your choice in the comments.

And, yes, I know that it is probably far too early to be worried about any of these possible moves since things are going relatively swimmingly for the Twins at the moment. I've heard little to nothing regarding the Twins in the way of trade rumors and any moves the Twins make are likely to be far less splashy than Heath Bell or Cliff Lee. HOWEVER, tonight's game doesn't start for another 5 hours, so let's wildly propose and speculate on trades anyway!

Poll

Which move do you feel best positions the Twins for a successful finish to the regular season and a longer-than-one-series post-season?

Trading for a rent-a-pitcher, a la Cliff Lee or (to a lesser degree) Oswalt

49 votes

Trading for a third basemen (whose name I've helpfully included in the comments...)

12 votes

Trading for a strong bullpen arm, a la Heath Bell or Soria

15 votes

Stand pat - this team as it is currently constructed can dominate THE WORLD (plus I'm scared of trading away prospects...)

19 votes

Other (I'll explain in the comments)

2 votes

97 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

Note:

In keeping with our “planning ahead” theme, bbeeck just posted about the possibility of a Lee trade in the prior fanpost. I love the idea of having Lee for the post-season, but I’m so gun shy about trading prospects.

by dctwin on Jun 1, 2010 4:42 PM EDT reply actions

+1

by bl4ckduck on Jun 1, 2010 9:24 PM EDT up reply actions

to the gun-shy about trading prospects.

but wow i have to hand to you milt — rosterbation is now a permanent addition to my vocabulary

by bl4ckduck on Jun 1, 2010 9:26 PM EDT up reply actions

If I were GM?

I’d be playing The Show. So what would I do in The Show? I’m trading Ramos and a C+ SP prospect (Salcedo, Gutierrez, Bromberg, Manship, Robertson) for Cliff Lee and heck, I’ll even pay them for a shot at a Perkins loto ticket.

After that, I’m seeing if Jermaine Dye or Joe Crede want to join former teammate Thome in pinch hitter extraordinaire roles.

Most importantly, I’m cutting bait with Harris and Crain. Come on up Slama!

Of course this is just rosterbation at its worst.

by Milt on Tilt on Jun 1, 2010 5:02 PM EDT reply actions

There is no way to guarantee it

and the Yankees can’t guarantee success against the Twins either.

We can’t be so focused on a single team. The Twins need to do what it best for them overall, always. You can’t sabotage yourself for a single series that might never come.

So the Twins need to make any moves that they feel that they can “win.” Whatever they may be, including going forward with the team as is.

by ckb on Jun 1, 2010 5:07 PM EDT reply actions

Yes, yes

Of course. I do not propose that we clone Kubel and Blackburn and play an entire team of them in the hopes that their yanqui killing ways will continue (though now that I think about it…). But boy oh boy would it be neat to get to the second round of the playoffs one of these years… and it’s looking likely that the road to the ALCS will go through the AL East yet again this year…

by dctwin on Jun 1, 2010 5:18 PM EDT up reply actions

Onoez! yanquiz?

RELAX!
The new Twins Era of World Domination™ begins in 2010!*

*Offer valid in U.S.A. and Canada only. Offer not valid with any other offers or discounts, or if we somehow lose. Void where prohibited by law. Armchair GM not responsible for acts of God.

"Don't take life for granted, because tomorrow isn't promised to any one of us." -Kirby Puckett
"Kubel smashed it." -Jesse

by less cowbell, more 'neau on Jun 1, 2010 5:08 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

Or acts of Cuzzy, Phil.

I always loved that one.

by FoulJack on Jun 2, 2010 5:39 PM EDT up reply actions

I think we are more likely to acquire a 3rd baseman.

But I would avoid shipping Ramos for them.

I feel like there’s a potential for Ramos going to Seattle for Lee along with 1 or 2 others.

The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. ~ Terence Mann

by John Veldhuis on Jun 1, 2010 5:27 PM EDT reply actions

I would be shocked if we got a 3B

There isn’t anyone available that’s any better than Crede (FA, great defense and power) or Lowell (not great defense and power). The Twins have already passed on both, and unless there is a rash of injuries, will continue to pass.

We’ve sacrificed defense in other places, and Gardy won’t give away LNP’s starting role, and quite frankly, I don’t want him to. He is a more than adequate #9 hitter in that he actually gets on base at a decent rate with all of the walks he takes, and is a very good 3B. We won’t acquire a third baseman unless Punto comes down with a season-ending injury.

by bbeeck on Jun 1, 2010 5:36 PM EDT up reply actions

What is Crede up to?

A healthy Crede could be really nice come September…plus he could reunite with his boy Thome!

by dctwin on Jun 2, 2010 10:35 AM EDT up reply actions

A healthy Crede does not exist

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

by cmathewson on Jun 2, 2010 11:01 AM EDT up reply actions

Not for more than a week

Contact him in August, he might stay healthy until the playoffs if he spends most of the time on the bench.

by DJL44 on Jun 2, 2010 11:13 AM EDT up reply actions

a healthy Crede does so exist!

someone got this picture of him that proves it!

Good luck fischean of Junebug, wherever you are! - less cowbell, more 'neau

by what_would_gil_thorp_do on Jun 2, 2010 9:46 PM EDT up reply actions

Off the bargain bin

Andy LaRoche is going to lose his job in Pittsburgh. He’s replacement level but would be a decent platoon mate for Punto.

Melvin Mora has been adequate off the bench for the Rockies.

Ty Wigginton is having a career year in Baltimore but they would probably consider dealing him for a B prospect since he’s a free agent after this season and won’t be offered arbitration.

by DJL44 on Jun 2, 2010 11:12 AM EDT up reply actions

Get Cliff Lee

And the Twins are at the very least a serious World Series contender. Without him (or another top-flight starting pitcher), the Twins are a very good team not built for winning in October. October baseball is all about dominating starting pitching, not necessarily depth 1-5 in the staff. While it’s nice that the Twins don’t have much dropoff from 1-5 in the quality of their pitchers, it’s also their biggest weakness in that their #1 starter (whoever he is) is not dominant in the sense that Johan, Sabathia, Lee, or some of those other big-name pitchers are.

by Sheldon on Jun 1, 2010 10:07 PM EDT reply actions

I voted to get Cliff Lee...however

Especially since we did a decent enough job in the season series against them (thus putting them behind us at least for now), I don’t think we should be so obsessed with the Yankees. We’ve still yet to get through the critical months of the summer, during which plenty should happen in the AL East race. Personally, I expect the Yanks to hold on and win at least the wild card, but if Toronto can avoid fading for once, it could be a different story (and think…a rematch of 1991!).

As un-fun as it is to say…let’s just wait and see.

by MarshalltheIrish on Jun 2, 2010 12:51 AM EDT reply actions

I don't know about being decent against the Yankees

Is 2-4 decent? I think that kind of shows how thrilled we are to get even 2 wins against them. Do we really think things are going to be different in the playoffs this year if we face them again? Oh, maybe we don’t get swept, but I don’t think we knock them off either.

by Sheldon on Jun 3, 2010 2:11 AM EDT up reply actions

Lol, I guess decent compared to last year

I also considered how close the first two games at Target were. We’ve proven we can hang with them and beat them, but not to the extent we’d like. I think we can still take them out in the playoffs, but admittedly I’d feel better about our chances with Lee in the rotation. We’re lucky we didn’t even have to face CC this season.

by MarshalltheIrish on Jun 3, 2010 2:42 PM EDT up reply actions

On the one hand you can say we could be 4-2 against the Yankees this year

On the other hand, we stole one in NY. We could just as easily be 1-5. It’s all a matter of perspective. I get your drift, but the problem is that the Twins were 0-10 against the Yankees last year and almost all of those games were close. Unless the Twins make a major move at the trading deadline, I fear this year will be deja vu to the last decade of division-winning seasons with quick playoff exits.

by Sheldon on Jun 3, 2010 5:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Exactly

I have that fear of deja vu as well, which would be excruciating to go through this season with all the high expectations and offseason boosts. The past decade’s heartbreaks sucked, but were usually mitigated (at least for me) by the knowledge that the Twins were able to do a lot with a little, and if they just had more payroll security and an ability to retain and sign players, things would be different. Well, now with the $30 million jump in payroll from moving into the Bullseye, the small-market restriction is no longer applicable. This is a team that’s built to win it all, but to achieve that they do have to continue to make the necessary moves. And ever since reading this original post I can definitely say trading for Lee would be that move.

by MarshalltheIrish on Jun 3, 2010 6:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Right

But if I may, I would like to revise one of your statements. You say the team is built to win it all. As currently constructed, I disagree. And actually I think you probably agree with me based on the rest of the sentence where you say that they need to make some moves to achieve that. So here’s the revision: The Twins have the foundation in place to build a team capable of winning a championship, but as currently constructed, they are not likely to be able to beat the other elite teams in the playoffs.

by Sheldon on Jun 4, 2010 7:06 AM EDT up reply actions

+1

The good news is, we have the raw materials to make these moves. We have a lot of valuable arms that could be moved. We have some blocked position player prospects (e.g. Ramos). Let’s see how the FO performs with their stated goal of winning it all.

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

by cmathewson on Jun 4, 2010 10:30 AM EDT up reply actions

Yes

I feel that way too. I think when I wrote that I meant that as a franchise, they’re more built to win a championship than in the past, but obviously we need to make severe upgrades in order to make it happen this year. I too can’t quite envision us beating the other elite teams right now. Hopefully we’ll play well enough in our two four-game sets against the Rays to somewhat prove otherwise.

by MarshalltheIrish on Jun 4, 2010 1:09 PM EDT up reply actions

One more thing, however

If we stole one in NY this year, then the Yanks have stolen many victories against us from the past couple of years. Absolutely unexpected as Kubel’s grand slam was, it was still a legit win (complete with Rauch’s Everyday Eddie emulation in the ninth).

by MarshalltheIrish on Jun 3, 2010 6:23 PM EDT up reply actions

IF we got Lee

Who would you guys want to take out of the rotation? Recent history would say Slowey, but others have had just as poor play in the past as he is having now, and he is coming off wrist surgery. It is difficult to decide who we would sit.

I always loved that one.

by FoulJack on Jun 2, 2010 5:43 PM EDT reply actions

Depends on who we deal for Lee

As far as I’ve read the Twins would have to pawn a starter to get Lee, so in that case I’d go with Slowey. Blackburn would be a likely candidate too.

by MarshalltheIrish on Jun 2, 2010 6:19 PM EDT up reply actions

I have never liked Pavano

So he would get my vote unless the Mariners ask for another of the starting pitchers.

by Sheldon on Jun 3, 2010 2:12 AM EDT up reply actions

What do you dislike about Pavano?

I’ve loved having him here, and he has the makeup of a big game pitcher (i.e. his solid performance in game three of the ALDS last year). The only reason he has as many losses as he does has been a lack of offense during some of his most recent starts.

Unless it’s his personality. His behavior when he was with the Yankees was outrageous.

by MarshalltheIrish on Jun 3, 2010 2:48 PM EDT up reply actions

Please remember

that Sheldon is the guy who said last year, on August 2nd.

“There is a difference between being a fan, and wasting your time and money on a team going nowhere.”

"Don't take life for granted, because tomorrow isn't promised to any of us." - Kirby Puckett

by BCTwins on Jun 3, 2010 3:33 PM EDT up reply actions

That's not relevant so stop posting it

That’s childish. Seriously.

by Sheldon on Jun 3, 2010 5:33 PM EDT up reply actions

It's the trainwreck starts that terrify me

At least when the other pitchers are a little off, they generally give the team a chance. I know he hasn’t had too many stinkers this year, but his ERA was around 5 last year so I feel like the worst is yet to come. It has nothing to do with personality, and actually Pavano has pitched quite well this year. It’s just this mental fear I have whenever he takes the mound of allowing the game to get out of hand after 3 innings.

by Sheldon on Jun 3, 2010 5:38 PM EDT up reply actions