Twins sign veteran Hernandez

Fox Sports.com announced just over 40 minutes ago that the Twins signed veteran pitcher Livan Hernandez today to a one year $5 million deal.

The move is a clear sign of the front office's desire to add a veteran arm that can eat some innings for our current rotation where every pitcher is under 26 years old. Hernandez, 33, pitched for the Arizona Diamondbacks last season posting a record of 11-11 with a 4.93 ERA in 204 innings.

Hernandez is known for his durability and has pitched over 200 innings in seven of his last nine seasons. He has veteran leadership and pitched in two World Series: a 1997 victory with the Florida Marlins and a 2002 defeat with the San Francisco Giants.

Many critics will be upset about the cost of the Hernandez deal and comparisons to the Ponson/Ortiz signings of last offseason will certainly be made, but I personally like the deal. The current rotation is too young and with such little experience I believe too much pressure will be put on the bullpen. Young stud Francisco Liriano cannot be expected to pitch more than 150 innings coming back from Tommy John surgery and our two "experienced" starters Scott Baker and Boof Bonser each have a total of 48 career starts.

Hernandez will offer a strong durable arm to eat innings and will hopefully provide some leadership and guidance to the young starters. I think the Hernandez deal is different from the past flops of Ponson and Ortiz because those two were trying to revitalize their career whereas Hernandez has been consistent. You know what you get with Livan Hernandez. Plus, he ends up being essentially Carlos Silva at 60% the cost.

Here is the initial story leaked by Fox Sports.

COUNTDOWN: 50 DAYS UNTIL SEASON OPENER

Twins join Super Bowl frenzy

If you need any proof as to the direction of the Twins future, look no further than last week's Super Bowl commercials. For the first time ever the Twins joined the madness of the Super Bowl ads and constructed this 30 sec. piece preparing for the new ballpark in 2010. The new leaders and stars of the team Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, and Michael Cuddyer appear along with one more guest in the end. If you recognize who it is let me know if the comments!

Say it ain't so Santana

Alright MVB readers, I am still alive and I apologize for the long delay. My 10 day long roadtrip with no internet coupled with the fact that I thought if I didn't post about the Johan Santana news maybe it wouldn't come true, leaves me with a very overdue post.

So as everyone knows by now, last Friday, the Twins officially traded ace Johan Santana to the New York Mets when he signed a 6-year extension for $137.5 million. After a Friday, February 1st, 5 pm deadline had passed for the Mets to sign Santana to a deal it took a two hour extenstion for the two sides to agree on a deal.


In return, the Twins received a package of 4 prospects from the Mets: CF Carlos Gomez (22), P Deolis Guerra (18), P Phil Humber (26), and P Kevin Mulvey (22).

I don't need to link you to all the articles reviewing the trade and experts giving their analysis, but many baseball people have deemed the players on the Twins side as undervalue for Santana. Yet, I sympathize with the situation that GM Bill Smith was in. He was caught in between a rock and a hard place, and when it came down to it the New York Mets were really the only team he had left to deal with.

Smith may have overplayed his hand causing the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox to drop out of the race, but in the end it was time for Santana to go. Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire expressed concern over the distraction of bringing Santana back to Spring Training in Fort Myers.

So Santana is gone and the Twins now usher in a new era. I have to admit it would have been nice to see the Yanks' stud pitcher Phil Hughes, the Sox's slick outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, or even top Met prospect Fernando Martinez come over in a deal, but a trade like this will always seem unfair until years down the road. Maybe Santana will dominate in the NL, win multiple Cy Young awards, take a very good team to World Series, and the four prospects will never pan out for the Twins. But also, maybe Santana will have a couple solid seasons and begin to deteriorate as Gomez replaces Torii Hunter, Mulvey and Humber become solid starters in the rotation, and the young Guerra develops into an ace. Who knows???

For a more in-depth description of the Twins new prospects, Minor League Baseball.com offers a good review.

The Santana deal came shortly after the Twins locked up their young stars Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer. This duo along with star Joe Mauer are now the leaders of this very young club. As Jim Souhan of the Star Tribune writes, the Twins are set to contend in their new ballpark in 2010.

A bulk of my blog posts in the past 3 months have been devoted to Santana and the impending trade. If you want a great review of how this deal came to be and all the rumors and teams in between here is the offseason Santana review.

All and all the deal is a tough one to swallow. It is hard to patient and see if these prospects will contribute someday, and it is even harder to see a great player and class act like Santana leave. I'm happy for Santana as he really came out on top. He's making record money, going to a league with a significantly less quality of hitters, moving to a pitcher's ballpark, and to a team with much more run support. At the same time, the Twins organization has a history of succeeding in large prospect heavy deals like this, ex. Chuck Knoblauch to Yankees for Eric Milton, Christian Guzman and the biggest steal ever A.J. Pierzynksi to the Giants for Joe Nathan, Boof Bonser, and that one kid named Francisco Liriano.

Someday we will know how this deals turns out, but until then I think the 2008 Twins will be young, inexperienced, raw, but very fun to watch.

MVB readers... I'd love to hear your take on the deal in the comments section?

Also, stay tuned for a position by position preview of the 2008 Twins as we prepare for Spring Training.

Morneau, Cuddyer, and Dan are winners

Friday marked a historic day in Twins history. The Twins inked former MVP Justin Morneau to a six-year $80 million deal, the largest contract in franchise history. The Twins didn't stop there as they also locked up rightfielder Michael Cuddyer to a three-year $24 million deal. In amazing news, Twins owner Carl Pohlad opened his wallet 104 million dollars deep, which we all know is still pocket change to the billionaire banker.

The sighs of relief across Twins Territory were great enough to blow the air out of the Metrodome as Twins fans know two of their stars will be sticking around for awhile longer. After an offseason that has seen franchise star Torii Hunter leave and the imminent departure of ace pitcher Johan Santana, we're reassured to see Cuddyer in the new ballpark in 2010 and we can rest easy as Morneau will not be a free agent until 2013.

I was ecstatic to read this news and see new GM Bill Smith be proactive and lock up our key players which past management has failed to do. I think the Cuddyer 3-year deal is a good one given the current high market value. Initially it may seem more than he is worth, but it is key for the Twins to know they have a stable right hand bat to produce for three years in the middle of the lineup. Cuddyer brings a great outfield arm, below average defensive range, but it is a great man for the clubhouse and the Twin Cities. Having Morneau locked up is such an important move for this franchise. This is the first time Twins fans can know they will have a star player like Kirby Puckett sticking around Minneapolis for awhile. Morneau will not only be around for the opening of the new ballpark but for many years after. He will be the new face of the franchise along with catcher Joe Mauer, so let's hope for a few more MVP awards.

PRIZE WINNER!

I apologize as I cam currently on a 10 day roadtrip and internet access will be rare. That's why this breaking news from Friday is posted so late. But the Twins contract announcements came as a great opener for the 2008 Twins FanFest at the Metrodome. From what I've read and seen in pictures, the weekend looked like another great success and most importantly there was good news to share.

Attending the Twins FanFest will be the winner of the first ever Twins MVB Free Prize Giveway, Dan. Dan is an avid MVB reader from Farmington, MN.

Congratulations to Dan and I promise another free prize giveaway in the future.

Until then, celebrate the good Twins news and prepare for more with the Santana trade clock ticking down to four weeks.

FREE Prize Giveaway

That's right MVB fans, it's the first ever FREE PRIZE GIVEAWAY!

I know this is a little late notice, but I just got my hands on two tickets to the Twins FanFest at the Metrodome in Minneapolis this weekend Jan 25- Jan 27. Sadly, I am unable to go and I want some Twins fan to have the opportunity to go.

Here's how this giveaway will work....

All you have to do is send an email with your first name and your favorite Twins player as the subject line to twinsmvb@gmail.com by 8 PM tomorrow (Thursday, Jan. 24). I will then randomly select an email, get in contact with the winner, and send the tickets overnight to our winner.

If you've never been to the Twins FanFest it really is a great time. It's a huge festival down on the field in the Metrodome. There are opportunities for autographs, player photos, trivia, games, auctions on memorabilia, auditions to sing the national anthem, and my favorite Q&A sessions with the players. I'd recommend it to any Twins fan.

Check out the link here for player autograph schedules and a full description.

Morneau signs... just for one

Justin Morneau and the Twins agreed this morning to a one-year deal avoiding arbitration between the two parties. Morneau signed for $7.4 million which is a $3 million raise from the $4.5 that he made last year. Morneau isn't eligible for free agency until after the 2010 season but this offseason is an indication of why the Twins must sign their star players to long-term contracts. I understand simply avoiding arbitration and giving the 2006 MVP a fair deal, but I don't understand why the Twins are so hesitant to give Morneau the $4 million more that separated them last time they attempted to lock him up long-term. This is a top priority!

In related news, yesterday the Twins avoided arbitration with Jason Kubel and locked the 26 year-old outfielder to a one-year deal worth $1.3 million. After these two signings, this leaves RF Michael Cuddyer and pitchers Matt Guerrier and Juan Rincon as the remaining players who could possibly enter arbitration.


Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus writes in his column that Jason Kubel is one of the nine players in baseball poised to have a breakout season in 2008. Here's to Sheehan's projections coming true. Kubel was destined for great things in 2004 when he flew up the minors all the way to the Twins playoff roster. After a devastating injury caused him to miss the entire '05 season and took him two more seasons to regain his swing, Kubel seems ready to establish himself as one the Twins' top hitters. If Kubel emerges, Delmon Young improves on his rookie season, and Joe Mauer can stay healthy the middle of the Twins' order along with Morneau and Michael Cuddyer could be very dangerous and solve our "run problem" from last year.

What do you think of the possibility of Kubel breaking out in 2008?

Rumors Flying

With every day that passes it seems that either the Yankees, Red Sox, or Mets have emerged as the favorite to land Twins ace Johan Santana or one of the three teams seems to be out of the race. I can honestly say I'm no longer sure who is the favorite, what the GM Bill Smith and the Twins are looking for, or where Santana will be at the start of spring training.

I decided to compile all the "news" that I have read which is actually more speculation/rumor. But it's certainly fun to guess and wonder, so here is what the supposed insiders know...

In Boston, Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald writes that the "experts" believe the Sox have the best talent to offer the Twins.

In New York, the boy who cried wolf, I mean Hank Steinbrenner, is still trying to decide if he is "in or out" of the Santana sweepstakes. Tyler Kepner of the New York Times says the Yanks expect to open camp without Santana.

In Minnesota, despite reports that the Yankees are out, the Twins are confident that the stakes are "still a 3-horse race." Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star Tribune argues the Twins need the Yankees for leverage.

In Chicago, (yes Chicago) Barry Rozner of the Daily Herald says the Chicago Cubs should seriously look into Santana.

In Bill Smith's office, it is believed that the Twins GM has no timetable of if or when he will make a trade. Nick Carardo of the The Boston Globe Reports.

So MVB readers, you decide who the favorite to land Santana, what Bill Smith and Twins are looking for in return, and where will Santana be in the end.

And if you find any answers..... I'd love to hear them in the comments.