Is he the answer? No. Is it an upgrade? I think so.
After multiple rumors the Twins acquired Orlando Cabrera today from the Oakland A’s in exchange for Single-A prospect, Tyler Ladendorf. The deal was solidified just after noon CST on Friday afternoon. Cabrera should expect to move right into the starting shortstop role and most likely bat second in the order.
Cabrera was never on the top of my list of solutions, but I do see him as an upgrade over Alexi Casilla or Nick Punto. More than anything, this move is a sign from the front office that they are committed to winning and want to try and answer the pleas of Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, and Joe Nathan. With less than two hours left until the deadline, we’ll see if Bill Smith can add another arm to the bullpen.
Although Cabrera may not be the answer to a division title, he could be the solution to keeping Joe Mauer in Minnesota.
After the Tigers picked up Washburn the Twins had to do something. Nothing burns me more, or the players on the team based off recent comments, than watching other clubs try make a run for it while the Twins stand by and observe.
The Twins have 60 games to go. Fully half are against last place or essentially last place caliber teams. That’s 30 games against the Indians, A’s, Orioles, and Royals. 18 of those are at home. The Twins must take advantage and beat up on this part of their schedule in order to make a push for the division.
The Tigers also have 60 games left. They play those 4 weak AL teams 25 times and have 14 games remaining against the Red Sox, Rays, and Angels. 10 of those are on the road including a 4 gamer at Fenway.
The Twins need to capitalize and go on a run. They play 4 games in Detroit in the penultimate series of the regular season, September 28 – October 1st. They need to make sure they go into Detroit 2 or 3 games up in first place. They have the schedule to do it, and now with Cabrera, a deeper lineup, bench, and energzied clubhouse.
If the Twins have any more moves in them to shore up the bullpen I’d pick them as odds on favorites to win the division.
It’s Friday here at Twins MVB which only means one thing: Fan Friday! This week’s article comes from Emily Buss. Emily is a great writer and a huge Twins fan. To learn more about Emily follow her on Twitter @TheEmilyB.
Minnesota Invades Wrigleyville
Three of my friends and I had taken it upon ourselves to go to another city this baseball season to watch the Twins. Fortunately, it was in a city that I had some experience with, Chicago. So when we saw tickets for the interleague match up between the Cubs and Twins we knew we had to go. Bright and early on June 11, my friends Josh, Rick, Hannah and myself piled into my car and drove the roughly 450 miles to the great Chi City.
Our tickets were for Game 2 on that Saturday so we had an extra day to peruse around town. We took in some sites, became quite familiar with Halsted and Clark streets (more so their bars) and saw more Twins fans than we could count.
We had heard the Twins pulled off a win in Game 1 Friday night and were even more excited for our game on Saturday. A rain delay had pushed the game back quite a bit but eventually Abe Lincoln came out to throw the first pitch.
It seemed as if our seats were in Twins Territory but a quick glance around Wrigley Field revealed a different scene. There was more Twins paraphenallia than Cubs. (A foreshadow of the new Target F ield?) It was apparent who came to cheer when Joe Mauer stepped up to bat. “MVP, MVP” was heard clear as day each time number seven stepped up to the plate.
Chicago Cubs right fielder Milton Bradley was another player Wrigley Field recognized every appearance that day. In Game 1, he had a major league screw up when he lost a ball in the sun and threw it into the stands with only two outs. Our seats were near his position and his last name was menacingly chanted each time he took the field.
If some of you don’t know, it’s a Wrigley Field tradition to sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during every seventh inning stretch. But, you all know the song. In the part where it says “ root root root for the home team,” the Cubs fans exchange the words 9 Chome team” for “Cubbies”. But, on this day, it wasn’t “Cubbies” the fans were shouting, it was “Twins.”
The ninth inning brought some long, tense moments as Joe Nathan, my favorite pitcher, threw some crappy pitches. With the infamous Fukudome at bat and Theriot on deck, we were holding our breaths and praying the game wouldn’t go into extra innings. Luckily, Nathan struck out Fukudome and Theriot popped a fly ball into right field ending the game. Wrigley Field erupted in cheers from the dedicated Twins fans as we shut out the Cubs 2-0.
But, what game wouldn’t he complete without a little heckling from Cubs fans? I will plead the fifth but can’t say that much for the guy a few rows in front of us. He must have been at the game the night before by the way he yelled back in a horrendously hoarse voice.
Twins fans painted the streets of Wrigleyville and packed the bars all afternoon to gloat. I’ll give the Cubs fans a little credit though. Even though we had beat them two games in a row, they were surprisingly friendly. Maybe it was because it was just an interleague match up. Now, if it was the Sox that would have been a different story.
A goal of mine for this blog is to make it one of the most interactive and engaging blogs out there regarding the Minnesota Twins. To do this I want to get some feedback from those who matter most… the readers!
As many of you may know, you can follow me (John Meyer – Twins MVB) on Twitter @twinsmvb. This tools has been a great way to meet new Twins fans, share links from this website, and read Twins news from other users. I’ve also integrated the Twitter account to feed into this blog. Sometimes you may notice very short blog posts that pop up with quick thoughts or links. This is an example of a “tweet” being integrated into a blog.
Anyway, I want to see what you all think about that? Do you like to see these short blog posts on Twins MVB? Do you actually read them? OR are they just annoying? Do you think I should keep the “tweets” only on Twitter?
I just wanted to hear from you so please leave a comment if you have an opinion and as always I love to hear your thoughts and ideas on how to make this blog better. Go Twins!
After arguably the hardest week of the season out on the west coast, the Twins rebounded with a much needed sweep of the Chicago White Sox that moved our boys into second place in the AL Central. These three wins not only allowed the Twins to leapfrog the Sox but also come within two games of the division leading Detroit Tigers.
I should probably be focusing my attention on the fact the Twins just played three solid games of baseball against a division rival; however, I’m more upset by the fact that we are roughly 36 hours away from the MLB Trade Deadline and GM Bill Smith has no sign of improving this ballclub. To be honest after last week I thought this team looked more like a seller than a buyer. Then of course the Twins pulled their typical, “We’re back at the Metrodome where we can beat anyone and actually play inspired baseball.”
It’s no surprise that the Twins need to upgrade in the middle infield and the bullpen. In the span of the last two days the Pittsburgh Pirates traded their entire middle infield, with Jack Wilson headed to Seattle and Freddy Sanchez off to San Francisco. I really thought Sanchez could have been a good fit for the Twins, but that ship has sailed. Other middle infield options include Marco Scutaro and Orlando Cabrera. I’d be happy with a Scutaro acquisition, but am not thrilled in anyway to bring Cabrera to Minneapolis.
The bullpen was an issue last season, an issue this past offseason, and has been an issue this season, yet Bill Smith continues to try Band-Aid solutions with no real thought of finding a true 8th inning setup guy. This gaping hole certainly cost the Twins a playoff spot in 2008 and could very well do the same here in 2009.
Overall, as a baseball fan I’ve felt like this year’s trade deadline has been quite boring. Yes, the most exciting hours still remain, but things seem awfully quiet. Attribute this to the economic climate that many teams to have the payroll to bring on money, or perhaps there just isn’t a lot of talent out there. Either way, Cliff Lee has been dealt to the Phillies, Matt Holiday to the Cardinals, and I’ll be shocked to see Roy Halladay leave Toronto.
If not Bill Smith, hopefully some GM can make this dead trade deadline a little more exciting!
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