Pitching vs Hitting

[pllwft]

The Twins need of solid hitting has been discussed in detail in everything from ESPN's baseball tonight to entire half hour segments on KFAN 1130 recently. The latest rumor is a trade sending Lohse, Mays and JC Romero to Texas for all star 2B Alfonso Soriano. Currently he's batting .284 with 25 homers 70 rbis and 20 sb's. In addition he is an amazing defender as well. Is he the answer for the Twins slumping season or is that package too much to give up for one player? The hurdle the Twins might not be able to handle is his $7.5 million contract. Although Soriano is 29 years old, would it be safer to go after an older and cheaper player like Phil Nevin of the Padres or Mike Lowell of the Marlins? Or should we scratch the season and not make any championship chasing moves and get ourselves into a hole we can't get out of?

[SledNeck]

Someone like Soriano would be a perfect fit for the Twins. Trade sounds too good to be true, I wish it were. I wont shed a tear for the loss of Romero or Lohse.

[Captain B.R.K]

Had a great article in the Star Tribune today about a trade possibility for Soriano. The problem is the guy makes 7 million and the Twin's would be lookin' for a quick fix, possibly run him through arbitration next year and see if they can get him for cheaper.

The Twins need to look to the future and not for the present. They got one heck of a young team and YES they do have a great future ahead of them with the prospects, BUT they don't need to sell the farm on a hitter. We lived through one Herschel Walker trade (Thanks Vikes), we don't need to live through another.

[pllwft]

I agree, it could be trouble if we make trades with the intent of improving one season. However, look back and Lohse had one good year with the Twins (14 wins i believe). Same with Mays, (17 wins). Romero has always been a solid reliever, pushing closer but fortunately we haven't had the need recently to fill that roll. However, 12 teams have contacted romero and the twins requesting a trade for him this year. The best and most realistic offer...washed up 3B Bill Mueller from the bosox. He also had one good year where he came out of no where to lead the league in BA. Mueller has to be about 34-36 yrs old compared to Soriano's 29. Both play solid defense but Soriano has double the numbers of Mueller and way more playing time left in his career. Yes, we lose 2 more pitchers if we acquire soriano, but I think calling up 2 of our better AAA SP's would bring about the same result as putting mays or lohse on the mound.

[kevfish]

Thought I read in the tribune that Soriano is not that solid in the field. I would make the trade if available

[rundrave]

well it would finally be nice to get someone who can hit 30 home runs in a season, I know that hasnt happend for the twins in years. kind of funny that it would come from 2B.

The guy has got a lot of post season experience as well, but I wouldnt want to depleat our pitching staff to get him, pitching is probably the only reason the twins are above .500 right now.

Somebody needs to step up and light a fire under the Twins a$$, whether its Gardy, Hunter, somebody anyone, just need to get some sort of streak going here.

[Willy]

Actually Soriano leads the league in errors for a 2nd baseman. He is NOT sound defensively. But.....I could live with that. He is a great hitter and can steal bases and score runs as well as drive in runs. He could DH and play sparingly in the field if needed. Have him DH when we have one of our groundball pitchers going or something.

We'd probably have to give up Romero, Mays, and a PTBNL(prospect) for him. Then, we still might not be able to sign him for next season. He is arbitration eligible and will probably comand about 10-11 mil next year. I say if we are going to do it, do it right and then sign him or go to arbitration and keep the guy around for a while. Hitting isn't just going to magically appear for these guys, we need someone who can carry us in the lineup.

However, there are about 10 other teams that have their eyes on Soriano, one being the Yankees.

Ryan isn't going to give up a bundle to get him, so I say good luck. We might see Bill Mueller or Kevin Millar.

Whoop-tee-doo.

[bigbucks]

Soriano's got a lot of defensive ability, but he isn't the model of consistency. He boots a lot of routine plays. He's an odd mix for a second baseman, a ton of power, a ton of strikeouts, not a very good situational hitter.

I'm not sure how I feel about that deal. I guess I'd be okay with Romero & one of the other two along with a modest prospect or even two. I think to trade your best left handed reliever & 40% of your rotation is too high a price for Soriano.

[juggs]

The Twins problems on offense have more to do with getting the rest of the lineup straightened out than just going after one big bopper. The only guy who is hitting is Joe Mauer because Joe Mauer is the only hitter who has any kind of patience. He doesn't swing at many bad pitches and, unlike Hunter, Jones and the rest, doesn't get over aggressive when ahead in the count. He also knows how to move a runner along, which is the Twins biggest offensive issue right now. Their pitching is good enough where they can win with few runs but they don't score when they get guys on with no outs. I think the rest of the league is finally on to how undisciplined the Twins hitters are and pitch them accordingly. Along with being the starting catcher, they ought to make Mauer the hitting coach!!