Twins Prefer Lefties

The Twins have a new GM coming into the off season and he has already made a conscious effort to turn things around. He understands that he might lose both Carlos Silva and Torii Hunter, but won't go down without a fight: "The reality with Torii Hunter and Carlos Silva is that it's a two-way street," Smith said. "It's done through negotiation. But if they don't want to come back, they have that option. So we have to have a Plan A if they're back and a Plan B if they're not." The Metrodome's dimensions play in favor to lefty pitching and lefty hitting, so it makes sense that they will look to players who will benefit from that. It is 327'' down the right field line and 343'' down the left field line so you can see how it helps. Look at their lineup right now: Mauer, Morneau, Punto, Kubel, Santana, and Liriano, it is mostly lefties. The short wall in right field helps the hitters while the big outfield in left helps the pitchers. That's why recent reports that suggest Chien-Ming Wang to the Twins and Santana to the Yankees seem foolish. "I think that's a fair statement," speaking on lack of depth. "We'll try and address that. If we are able to make any trades, it could involve trading pitching depth for position-player depth. We have more pitching depth at the higher levels than position-player depth." Although they may not want to trade in their division, Cliff Lee of the Indians would be a good choice. Not only is he a lefty, but is 2-1 with a 4.78 ERA in six games there and has experience against the division. Another pitcher that they would not have to give up much for is twenty-two year old Ryan Feierabend. Looking at hitters, players that should be available include Jacque Jones, Connor Jackson, Michael Bourn, Edgar Renteria, among others. However, they really do not have much leverage in the minors to acquire some of these players so may look to raise the payroll. They could try to bring back Luis Castillo, sign Cesar Izturis, Corey Patterson, and maybe even Barry Bonds. Bill Smith plans to be as aggressive as possible and hopefully the Twins can return to the top of the division where they stood for several years.

UPDATE: According to the MLB Rumors East Coast Correspondent Steve Wilson, the Yankees are preparing a trade involving Melky Cabrera, Ian Kennedy, and at least two minor league prospects for Johan Santana while shopping Johnny Damon around. Although this has not been confirmed, it is believed that the Yankees will pick up most of his salary to improve what they get in return. From there, they hope to add either Kosuke Fukudome, Corey Patterson, Aaron Rowand, or Coco Crisp, if they become available.