• I've been saying for a while now that the Twins would be wise to try and trade Livan Hernandez this summer. They probably have enough good young arms to contend with or without him, and letting him walk at the end of the season for nothing makes little sense when he could bring back a quality minor leaguer or two.

The counter-argument that I always get is that trading Livan when the team is in contention is tantamount to quitting. I couldn't disagree much more with that assessment, though in large part, that stems from a belief that you should never focus on any one season as a small/mid market team when you could do the organization a service in the long run. The Twins made this mistake last season - one where they were technically not 'out of it,' but didn't seem to have the horses to run with the Indians or Tigers. Indeed they didn't and trading Luis Castillo, a move decried both by fans and some players, made very little difference in the outcome of the season. That being the case, the Twins might have been well served to try and trade off some other veterans (Silva and Hunter) who they saw leave via free agency for either nothing, or the relative pittance of a couple draft picks.

In not trading Hernanez, its this mans belief they'd only be repeating the mistakes of the past.

In that vein, Buster Olney writes;

"It makes all the sense in the world for the Twins to explore this: In a season in which there is little available pitching, there will definitely be a market for someone like Hernandez, who always battles and seems capable of throwing 250 pitches. One team that could use him: the Atlanta Braves, who have been asking around about starting pitching."

Shocking *sarcasm* mostly because I have been pitching the idea of a swap for Braves third base/shortstop prospect Brent Lillibridge since about the same time the season began. Lillibridge isn't an all-star in the making, but he's a guy the Twins could use at third or short for the next 5 years almost immediately. Besides, Livan doesn't have enough value to bring in any top-end prospects, but Lillibridge is the perfect fit. Olney also cites the Astros as a possible landing spot for Livan. I hadn't given the Astros much thought heading into this year due to their status as unlikely to contend, but here we are, and they're contenders. The same could be said about the Cardinals, though they have received very good pitching so far this year, despite having an unimpressive rotation on paper.

As far as the Astros are concerned, the Twins would likely take aim at players such as 24 year old third baseman Chris Johnson, 22 year old right fielder Mitch Einerston, 23 year old starter Bud Norris, or reliever Ryan Thompson. Though frankly, I can't say any of those players strike me as capable of getting a deal done.

Twins righty Kevin Slowey has been posting very good strikeout and walk numbers and for the most part pitching well with just his two fastballs. It will be interesting to see if he brings anything else to the table tonight - like his curveball - and can pitch into the 6th inning or beyond. Something he's failed to do in his last 3 starts.

The Royals send out prospect Luke Hochevar who has an interesting honor in baseball history. He's the only player to be drafted with the first pick in the amateur draft. Twice. After being drafted first in 2005 by the Dodgers, Hochevar and super-agent  Scott Boras held out for money that the  Dodgers never ponied up. Hochevar switched agents, accepted a deal with the Dodgers, then reneged after bringing Boras back on-board one day later. This prompted Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti to publicly vow that he'd never work with Boras again.

He was back in the draft the next year and this time the Royals managed to lock him down ponying up huge money for the kid, with a contract that gave him a 3.5 million signing bonus and incentives that could bring his four year Major League contract up to 7 million dollars.

Hochevar own a 4.13 career ERA in his two minor league seasons, but moved quickly through the system, posting good strikeout and walk rates at every step except for AAA.During his last start, Hochevar did his best Boof Bonser impersonation, allowing a first inning grand slam to Brad Wilkerson.

Colletti went on to renege on his own vow, signing Boras client Andruw Jones this winter. Jones has been predictably miserable during his time with the Dodgers.