It's getting to be that time in the work day where you can, hopefully, relax a bit. Here are a few Twins tidbits to keep you fed for the rest of the afternoon.
- Phil Mackey of ESPN 1500 had an email conversation with Bill Smith, and it sounds like the Twins are ramping up Justin Morneau's workouts with a view to having him ready to go in spring training. Check out Mackey's report for what details there are.
- The Twins are one of six teams who have offered relief pitcher Jose Veras a minor league deal, and it sounds like Veras should be making his decision soon. Veras, who turned 30 in October, has averaged 52 games and 52 innings per season over the last three years, including 9.1 K/9, a less impressive 5.0 BB/9 and a 4.15 ERA. He throws a hard, mid 90s fastball, a plus breaking ball and a sinker in the mid 80s.
- Bleacher Report outlines 10 starting pitchers that the Twins should target, including Chris Carpenter, Ryan Dempster, Cole Hamels, Chad Billingsly, Matt Cain, Tim Hudson and more. It's FanBoy speculation at its best, but then again this is the same site that advocated the Twins trading for Michael Young. No, thanks.
- Common passes along this list, from a great new tool from FanGraphs: The best Twins' position players of the last decade by Wins Above Replacement. No surprise who number one is.
- TwinsGeek tries to inject a little reality and perspective into the conversation.
- David Dorsey, via Twitter, tells Seth Stohs that he'll have something "blog worthy" for him in the morning. Anybody have any guesses as to what this could be?
- Ben Nicholson-Smith of MLBTR held a chat this afternoon. Read through the transcript for a few notes on the Twins, the most relevant to me being that he thought Vladimir Guerrero was a good fit for Minnesota. He also mentions the silence surrounding Felipe Lopez, who could (at this point) be had on a minor league deal. While Guerrero may be expensive, Lopez may be a good buy-low candidate.
That's it for now. Enjoy the rest of your Wednesday!