Friday,
December 11, 2009
Winter Meeting
Review
As I mentioned
at the beginning of the week, the Winter Meetings can be a lot of fun for
baseball fans, but in general, there is a lot of talk for very little activity.
This was the case again this year. Websites and blogs around the internet
posted rumors and discussed possible situations. Twitter was the vehicle used
most by fans to get their rumor mill information. But as expected, things were
quiet on the Twins front. But not completely; there were a few things that
happened, or that we heard:
· First of all, there was a SethSpeaks.net podcast each night from Monday until Thursday. Here is a quick rundown:
o Sunday night, Travis Aune and I previewed the Winter Meetings, specifically the Twins topics.
o On Monday night, I was joined by Aaron Gleeman of AaronGleeman.com and NBCSports.com.
o On Tuesday night, Joe Hamrahi of BaseballDailyDigest.com joined us, along with the Star-Tribune’s Michael Rand (Rand Ball), Jon Marthaler of Twinkie Town, Jack Steal of Fanatic Jack Talks Twins and Dewey Moede of Dewey’s Daily Cup.Earlier in the evening, I joined Jack Steal on his Twins podcast to talk rumors.
o On Wednesday night, I was by myself and took many questions from the chat room.
o And on Thursday night, Travis Aune and I reviewed the Winter Meetings and discussed the Rule 5 draft.
· Joe Mauer’s agent, Ron Shapiro said that he would not be at the Winter Meetings because it could be too much of a distraction.
· Carl Pavano decided to accept the Twins offer of arbitration.
· Boof Bonser was Designated for Assignment, meaning the Twins would either trade him or non-tender him on Saturday.
o On Thursday morning, Bonser was traded to the Boston Red Sox for a Player to be Named Later, believed to be an A or AA player.
· We learned that the Twins offered Glen Perkins for Kevin Kouzmanoff. The Padres are interested, but they want something more.
· Like Kouzmanoff, the names of Jarrod Washburn and Robb Quinlan just won’t go away.
· The Twins had discussions regarding Mark Derosa. However, Derosa wants 3 years and $27 million.
· The Twins met with Scott Boras about Joe Crede, but probably not about Adrian Beltre.
· A rumor came out that the Texas Rangers offered Neftali Feliz and Justin Smoak to the Marlins for Josh Johnson. We heard the Marlins said No. We don’t really believe either of those situations.
· Apparently the Twins didn’t talk to Orlando Hudson’s agent about the 2B.
· The Twins made zero selections in the Major League portion of the Rule 5 draft. They also took no one in the AAA or AA versions. Fortunately the Twins lost no one in the Major League Rule 5 draft, but they did lose two pitchers in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft. Angelo Sanchez, who pitched in Elizabethton, and Winston Marquez, who split time between Elizabethton and Beloit, were lost.
BLOG SPOTTING
· At The Bleacher Report, Dan Wade posted an interview with Joe Mauer.
· Nick Nelson took a look at the Twins payroll and says that despite a payroll fast approaching $90 million, the Twins will still have to make some fiscally responsible decisions.
· Over the Baggy investigates what Boof to Boston could mean.
· Voting has begun for Twinkie Town’s #8 prospect. Be sure to go there and vote and leave your comments on the Twins minor leaguers.
· Twinkie Baseball just finished its Top 50 Twins prospects and then took a look at another prospect, Estarlin de Los Santos, who was added to the 40 man roster.
· Finally, there is a Get to Know ‘Em interview with yours truly over at the Baseball Bloggers Alliance. If you have some time, check it out here.
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