Tidbits

Sorry, don't have it in me to make a longer post this morning. I might have something up over the weekend, however. So instead here are a few things that interest me and may interest you as well:

• Jeff Pearlman of ESPN.com wrote an article on Mike Lamb and how hard having a "dream job" has been on him and his family. What I got from the article is that he may be leaning toward retirement at this point in his career. Which, in part could make the Twins' decision of 'what to do when Michael Cuddyer comes back?' a little easier. They may choose to designate him for assignment and at that point he may be able to take the rest of the season off and choose his next course of action. I know I might be reading a little too much into this, but it's just something that stuck out in that article. It's a little depressing reading that article, but I still have to remember that the man is being payed millions of dollars and although he cannot see his family, there are people working 3 jobs, making just enough to get by and still can't see their family.

• Joe Christensen of the Star Tribune looked into a few issues with the Twins. First, he believes that Liriano's re-arrival in Minnesota is coming soon and it could mean that either Nick Blackburn or Glen Perkins is moved to the bullpen. If I had my choice of those two, I'd pick Perkins as we already know he's succeeded in that role.

Next, he said that the Twins feel that the asking prices for guys like Adrian Beltre, Garrett Atkins, Bill Hall and Casey Blake are "too much" and he believes a deal won't get done. Now before reading this, I was going to come on here and make a post wondering if the Twins and Indians could strike a deal this weekend as they play one another, just like the Brewers & Giants made last week when Ray Durham switched dugouts mid-series and like the Twins trading Doug Mientkiewicz to the Red Sox mid-series back in '04. But this looks like typical Twins. There's really not much to say. They can't expect to give up just one or two C prospects for a few guys that 4-5 teams are after. I hope Bill Smith doesn't follow that closely Terry Ryan's footsteps and will remain aggressive. But if a deal isn't there, what can ya do? I don't see Smith being as stingy with dealing prospects, at least not as much as Ryan was, so we will see.

The Twins have also been rumored as a possible Hank Blalock suitor, which wouldn't surprise me although he doesn't fit the bill of a "right-handed southpaw masher" that the Twins are looking for. Still, Blalock's name has come up a few times in the last few years and could be a good fit for the Twins until Danny Valencia is ready which looks could be mid-2009 (Blalock has a 2009 club option worth $6.2 million that the Twins could pick up and then trade him next summer). Bill Hall's name has come up a few times, but I didn't realize he is that he hits lefties that well. This season, he is hitting .359/.423/.652 with 6 HR's in 92 AB's against southpaws. Although the chances of the Brewers trading him right now appears slim since they're trying to load up on ML talent for a 2nd half surge, he would be a good fit to platoon at 3rd with Brian Buscher who hits righties almost as well as Hall hits lefties. That could be a great platoon, although he's still due $15.2 million over the next two seasons which is a little steep, especially for a platoon player. Still if the price is right, I'd love to see Hall with the Twins.

• Jayson Stark of ESPN.com believes the talks between the Twins and Mariners for Adrian Beltre are "far from dead." But I think it's just Stark trying to keep people interested as we have not heard anything at all over the last week or so. Still, it's possible... I just know I won't get my hopes up of anything happening.

Regardless of if the Twins are looking or not, it's still a decision they have to make and the 3rd base market will be covered in Pt. 3 of "Decisions, decisions" next week.

• Andrew Kneeland of TwinsFix Twins' 2007 defense in comparison to this years.
• Nick Nelson of Nick & Nick's Twins Blog gives us a few tidbits.
• On Monday, John Bonnes of Twins Geek gives us a Shopping List.
• The Bullpen Catcher believes the Twins could be shopping both Francisco Liriano and Denard Span.
• Jim Mandelaro from the Democrat and Chronicle believes Brian Buscher may be on his way back to Rochester when Adam Everett is ready to return after Monday. OVER MY DEAD BODY!
• Josh Taylor grades the Twins minor league catchers from the first half.
• Mike Decaire from The Curse of Big Papi asks if a you would trade Joe Mauer for a guarantee championship with Mark Prior. Intersting...

Have a great day!