Saturday Afternoon Hair of the Dog: Slowey, Cuddyer, Liriano & Accentuating the Positives

Let me tell you what I did today. I nursed a hangover that was partially Twins-based, put down some Chinese food, walked my dog and watched The Adjustment Bureau. And it was good. So there's that. Let's talk about some Twins-related stuff before the they attempt to take down the White Sox in a few hours.

• Last week I made a bid for Kevin Slowey getting another shot with the Twins. Nothing has changed on that front, after Kevin's five-inning, two-run performance on Friday. Over those five frames he allowed seven hits and a pair of walks while striking out six. If he turns in another good performance in a few days and the Twins don't call him up, it'll be time to start asking a few questions about the organization's intentions.
• It sounds like the Twins used not trading Michael Cuddyer as a gesture of good will in order to ask him to take a pay cut over the next two years. Joe Christensen has reported that the Twins tried to sign him to a two-year, $16 million extension. Now, as far as I'm concerned there's no doubt that Cuddyer will earn his $10.5 million salary in 2011, especially if you understand market value for how much every win above replacement costs, but is Cuddy worth $8 million over both his age-33 and age-34 season? He'd need to accumulate something like 6 wins above replacement over '12 and '13 to make that a good deal. Considering Cuddyer's best WAR seasons are two 3.0-win seasons (2011, 2006), 2.8 (2009) and 2.5 (2007), are six wins too much to expect over two years at those ages? Probably.
• Interestingly, but not surprisingly, the Twins were fielding offers on Francisco Liriano prior to last week's trade deadline. Oddly enough the Twins actually valued him quite highly, asking for a very high price in return for the enigmatic southpaw. After the rumors flying around about Denard Span and a relief pitcher, that's good to hear.
• After that disappointing loss to the South Siders last night, I just wanted to point out a few things that we can be happy about. First, Glen Perkins hasn't allowed an earned run since July 9. What an outstanding season he's had. Second, since Tampa plated three runs in an inning against Phil Dumatrait, Duma's made 11 appearances comprising 11.1 innings and just one earned run. His ERA has dropped from 6.06 to 3.90. Third, even Alex Burnett has gotten into the act, recording a 2.79 ERA in his last ten games, striking out 10 in 9.2 innings. Finally, after going 2-for-10 after returning from the disabled list, Jason Kubel has gone 13-for-40 (.325) in his last ten games, hitting two homers and driving in nine runs with a 7-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

That's all for now, folks. See you for the game!