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Post by aaronjh on Oct 23, 2007 16:21:40 GMT -5
Twins GM Aaron Haberman had a busy offseason. After laying dormant with a promising roster last season and facing scrutiny for a lack of sense of urgency, Haberman exploded onto the scene this offseason and showed he was ready to make Minnesota relevant. He overpaid for Vladimir Guerrero but fans were generally happy with the move to add a veteran superstar to mentor the team's promising array of young bats. Following the signing, he brought in a proven front-end starter in Odalis Perez.
Early in the season, the Twins looked as mediocre as least season. Having dealt off one of the top young talents in the game in Brad Hawpe to bring in Perez, Haberman felt the need to commit to contention.
"And now I feel we're almost there," Haberman said Tuesday. The team shipped off top prospect Justin Morneau to acquire another top starter in Mark Mulder, along with a lesser, but still stellar prospect in OF Nick Swisher.
Now, the Minnesota rotation features much-improved John Lackey and Mark Mulder at the top. Last year's ace, Aaron Cook, is bouncing back from a slow start. He surrendered just 2 runs in a complete game victory last time out, and Haberman has long said Cook is the staff ace. Perez is also looking to bounce back from a slow start, and Joe Mays is a proven number five pitcher.
"If Cook and Odalis are the greatest concerns we have, then we essentially have nothing to worry about. Cookie looked dominant last time out, and I think this is his year to establish himself as an elite starter. Odalis was brilliant at Coors last year and is as talented a guy as there is on our staff. We should have pretty dominant starting pitching, with four guys who could be the ace for a lot of staffs."
Haberman did lament his inability to bring back SP Johan Santana, though. "No doubt, I'm frustrated. We offered far and away the best package--much, much better than the junk he went for. And at the end of the day, we were toyed with, and by the time we had a deal, it wasn't something that was any longer fair to us and we weren't interested in having trade talks. Johan is the best guy in the league, and I hate to see him end up in the AL, when we could have brought him in. But that's what we're dealing with, and we went out and got a different guy in Mulder. Is he Johan? No, but he's elite, and I'll take our staff in a 7-game series."
The pitching, it seems, is no longer the problem. The offense, though, isn't where it was expected to be. Mark Teixeira has showed great power and run-producing ability, but he needs to have his average at .280, Haberman feels. "If teams want to fear pitching to Vlad, Tex can't just be a home run threat. He's gotta scare off the pitcher; he's gotta say, If you put Vlad on, I'm doubling him in, or I'm moving him over."
That's not all, though. "We definitely need someone to step up. Lineups don't produce with this many guys making outs. We can steal a lot of bags, we have a lot of power, but at the top of the lineup, we want to see .210 and .240 become .290. These guys can do that and let Vlad and Tex take care of the rest. Then we have Corey, who we can rely on for good power, but he needs to get on base. He's an .850+ OPS guy, and if he gets to where he should be, we'll benefit a lot from having his bat."
Haberman said the team is an active buyer in the trade market. "Right now, to bring our pitcher's along, and for defensive purposes, we need a catcher. We couldn't keep AJ around, but we need to find a similar player. If that catcher is out there, we'll pay up, because I know Joe Mauer has all the talent in the world, but you don't rush a talent of his caliber."
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Post by bbednarko on Oct 23, 2007 16:24:45 GMT -5
Nice read. Good stuff.
I understand the frustration, but I don't classify my return investment from Toronto as "junk". But, you are certainly entitled to your opinion.
Solid article. Hopefully, others will follow suit. Things like this are what help set leagues apart from others. Participation is crucial.
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Post by aaronjh on Oct 23, 2007 16:35:52 GMT -5
You got a fine deal, but it certainly wasn't near what I was offering. Just didn't understand how you turned it down.
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Post by bbednarko on Oct 23, 2007 16:55:31 GMT -5
You got a fine deal, but it certainly wasn't near what I was offering. Just didn't understand how you turned it down. It really just came down to positional scarcity and team need. They key in the deal for me was Morneau. Which is why prior to turning it down, I tried to get Justin by himself from you. I wasn't interested in depleting my rotation, and adding Day to the deal to get Hermida, would have done just that. Another key was adding Orlando Hudson, a very good, young 2B, after having dealt free agent Jose Vidro previously. With Gross, I've got a guy that can fill in in 2005, and it allows me to let Geoff Jenkins walk in Free Agency this offseason. Rios is a perfect candidate to take the place of Endy Chavez, should I decide deal him. He has garnered a ton of interest around the league, and I am looking to get some pop in a lineup built around a ton of speed. If I keep Chavez, Rios could play RF, or even be a piece of a deal for someone else down the road. I like Lackey a lot. He is going to be, and already is, very good. However, I also like Snyder. One could argue with Snyder's Brilliant Strikeout talent, that he is maybe a notch better than Lackey at this stage of the game. Then again, Lackey trumps him in age (1 year) and ground ball ratio. So, who knows. Bottom line is, I felt Toronto best fit my needs more so than your offer did. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. Some times the trades you don't make are the best for your team. You may look back and feel that way down the road. You just never know.
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Post by stinie3 on Oct 23, 2007 16:57:58 GMT -5
We offered far and away the best package--much, much better than the junk he went for. And at the end of the day, we were toyed with, and by the time we had a deal, it wasn't something that was any longer fair to us and we weren't interested in having trade talks. Ooh, someone is gettin flamed! This could get interesting...
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Post by aaronjh on Oct 23, 2007 17:11:02 GMT -5
You got a fine deal, but it certainly wasn't near what I was offering. Just didn't understand how you turned it down. It really just came down to positional scarcity and team need. They key in the deal for me was Morneau. Which is why prior to turning it down, I tried to get Justin by himself from you. I wasn't interested in depleting my rotation, and adding Day to the deal to get Hermida, would have done just that. Another key was adding Orlando Hudson, a very good, young 2B, after having dealt free agent Jose Vidro previously. With Gross, I've got a guy that can fill in in 2005, and it allows me to let Geoff Jenkins walk in Free Agency this offseason. Rios is a perfect candidate to take the place of Endy Chavez, should I decide deal him. He has garnered a ton of interest around the league, and I am looking to get some pop in a lineup built around a ton of speed. If I keep Chavez, Rios could play RF, or even be a piece of a deal for someone else down the road. I like Lackey a lot. He is going to be, and already is, very good. However, I also like Snyder. One could argue with Snyder's Brilliant Strikeout talent, that he is maybe a notch better than Lackey at this stage of the game. Then again, Lackey trumps him in age (1 year) and ground ball ratio. So, who knows. Bottom line is, I felt Toronto best fit my needs more so than your offer did. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. Some times the trades you don't make are the best for your team. You may look back and feel that way down the road. You just never know. It's your team and your call, obviously. I would've regretted the trade more than likely, but I was pretty demoralized to see Johan go for that price to Toronto given what I would've parted with.
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Nanz
Starter
Arizona Diamondbacks
Posts: 1,296
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Post by Nanz on Oct 23, 2007 17:12:08 GMT -5
So theres this chicken right...
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Post by bbednarko on Oct 23, 2007 17:17:15 GMT -5
It's your team and your call, obviously. I would've regretted the trade more than likely, but I was pretty demoralized to see Johan go for that price to Toronto given what I would've parted with. See, that's just it, though. When you say, "that price", who's to say what I got wasn't more valuable? It was more valuable to my team. And, really that's all that matters. I am here to build a winning ballclub to best of my abilities. I make moves that I think best suit my team and give me the best chance to win. It just so happened that in this particular deal, DJ Myte gave me what I was looking for. Then, he span the hits from the 80's, 90's, and today.
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Post by aaronjh on Oct 23, 2007 17:23:08 GMT -5
It's your team and your call, obviously. I would've regretted the trade more than likely, but I was pretty demoralized to see Johan go for that price to Toronto given what I would've parted with. See, that's just it, though. When you say, "that price", who's to say what I got wasn't more valuable? It was more valuable to my team. And, really that's all that matters. I am here to build a winning ballclub to best of my abilities. I make moves that I think best suit my team and give me the best chance to win. It just so happened that in this particular deal, DJ Myte gave me what I was looking for. Then, he span the hits from the 80's, 90's, and today. Makes enough sense. Though who couldn't use Morneau, Hermida, Lackey and Shields?
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Post by bbednarko on Oct 23, 2007 17:25:24 GMT -5
Makes enough sense. Though who couldn't use Morneau, Hermida, Lackey and Shields? Good question. I would imagine anyone in the league could use them. But, how many teams can offer Johan Santana in return for that talent?
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Nanz
Starter
Arizona Diamondbacks
Posts: 1,296
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Post by Nanz on Oct 23, 2007 17:26:47 GMT -5
Webb is better than Johan yeeee boi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by aaronjh on Oct 23, 2007 17:27:38 GMT -5
Makes enough sense. Though who couldn't use Morneau, Hermida, Lackey and Shields? Good question. I would imagine anyone in the league could use them. But, how many teams can offer Johan Santana in return for that talent? One, and they should've!
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Post by bbednarko on Oct 23, 2007 17:29:12 GMT -5
Good question. I would imagine anyone in the league could use them. But, how many teams can offer Johan Santana in return for that talent? One, and they should've! Put together a similar offer and shoot it over to DJ. Maybe you can still get him. He probably won't settle for "junk".
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Post by Spencer on Oct 23, 2007 17:31:06 GMT -5
Stud pitchers are great, but I invariably give up a ton to get a stud pitcher, and he never pitches as well as I envision. I remember my fascination with Santana in APBL. I must've acquired him 3 times, only to trade him away every time.
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Post by duce on Oct 23, 2007 17:41:49 GMT -5
If I had Santana, he would never even be on the market. I understand people have their reasons but the fact that he's been traded 3 times in less than 1.5 seasons kind of puzzles me. I see him as the kind of player you aim to sit on.
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Post by Spencer on Oct 23, 2007 17:42:39 GMT -5
If I had Santana, he would never even be on the market. I understand people have their reasons but the fact that he's been traded 3 times in less than 1.5 seasons kind of puzzles me. I see him as the kind of player you aim to sit on. You want to sit on him? Dirty.
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Post by duce on Oct 23, 2007 17:43:36 GMT -5
If I had Santana, he would never even be on the market. I understand people have their reasons but the fact that he's been traded 3 times in less than 1.5 seasons kind of puzzles me. I see him as the kind of player you aim to sit on. You want to sit on him? Dirty. Hey... there's the regular way, and then there's the Amish way...
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Post by Spencer on Oct 23, 2007 17:45:08 GMT -5
Hawt.
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Post by bbednarko on Oct 23, 2007 17:46:09 GMT -5
If I had Santana, he would never even be on the market. I understand people have their reasons but the fact that he's been traded 3 times in less than 1.5 seasons kind of puzzles me. I see him as the kind of player you aim to sit on. Every player on my club is always available. I don't believe in the word "untouchable". I hate the term "not available". If you can fill several holes with one player, and hopefully get someone to overpay, then you do it. Regardless how good the player is. Just my opinion.
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Post by Spencer on Oct 23, 2007 17:46:55 GMT -5
If I had Santana, he would never even be on the market. I understand people have their reasons but the fact that he's been traded 3 times in less than 1.5 seasons kind of puzzles me. I see him as the kind of player you aim to sit on. Every player on my club is always available. I don't believe in the word "untouchable". I hate the term "not available". If you can fill several holes with one player, and hopefully get someone to overpay, then you do it. Regardless how good the player is. Just my opinion. Bob just likes the social aspect of talking to lots of men.
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Post by bbednarko on Oct 23, 2007 17:47:52 GMT -5
Every player on my club is always available. I don't believe in the word "untouchable". I hate the term "not available". If you can fill several holes with one player, and hopefully get someone to overpay, then you do it. Regardless how good the player is. Just my opinion. Bob just likes the social aspect of talking to lots of men. I'm also very keen on the physical aspect of it, as well.
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Post by Spencer on Oct 23, 2007 17:48:21 GMT -5
Bob just likes the social aspect of talking to lots of men. I'm also very keen on the physical aspect of it, as well. Check please!
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Post by duce on Oct 23, 2007 17:49:49 GMT -5
If I had Santana, he would never even be on the market. I understand people have their reasons but the fact that he's been traded 3 times in less than 1.5 seasons kind of puzzles me. I see him as the kind of player you aim to sit on. Every player on my club is always available. I don't believe in the word "untouchable". I hate the term "not available". If you can fill several holes with one player, and hopefully get someone to overpay, then you do it. Regardless how good the player is. Just my opinion. Hear ya. I'd probably be more in agreement if it was say... a star hitter like Beltran or something. I feel like a star SP is a ticket to greatness. To each his own though.
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Post by Spencer on Oct 23, 2007 17:49:57 GMT -5
Mindless banter can only make a sim league better.
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Post by duce on Oct 23, 2007 17:50:35 GMT -5
Why did Habes' article end up so dirty? But then again how could it not...
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