Bats Available

There are 12 free agents this offseason who hit at least 20 home runs during the course of the past season. Namely:
1. Adam Dunn - 40
2. Manny Ramirez - 37
3. Pat Burrell - 33
3. Mark Teixeira - 33
5. Jason Giambi - 32
6. Raul Ibanez - 23
7. Milton Bradley - 22
8. Casey Blake - 21
9. Jim Edmonds - 20
9. Bobby Abreu - 20
9. Kevin Millar - 20
9. Eric Hinske - 20

Joe Crede and Orlando Hudson also had great slugging numbers.

Also there are 12 players with 20 HR power available through the trading block:
Prince Fielder, Aubrey Huff, Mike Jacobs, Dan Uggla, Edwin Encarnacion, Adrian Beltre, Adam LaRoche, Matt Holliday, J.J. Hardy, Melvin Mora, Kevin Kouzmanoff, and Garrett Atkins.
(Thanks to MLBTradeRumors)

This is substantial because the Twins had 0 players with 30+ HR, only 2 players with 20+ HR and only 3 with 10+ HR. The Twins have the prospects or extra players for a good trade, and they have the money for a couple of good free-agent signings.

The names that jump out at me the most:
3B Adrian Beltre
SS Orlando Hudson
SS J.J. Hardy
3B Joe Crede
3B Casey Blake
2B Dan Uggla
3B Garrett Atkins

I will likely go more in depth about some of these guys that I would love to see the Twins go get, like Beltre, Hudson, and Hardy. But basically the Twins are sitting pretty to go make some big trades/moves, and I know they haven't in the past but now would be a good time to change.

Return of Liriano

Today, Francisco Liriano pitched in his first game since 2006. He pitched 1.2 innings, gave up 2 hits and one walk and struck out Manny Ramirez. He was only throwing 90 MHP. He was limited to a pitch count of 40, hence being taken out after only 1.2 innings. It was a very successful debut. The goal was to get Liriano in a game situation, face MLB hitters, and most importantly, stay healthy. He did all of the above while not giving up any runs. You will be hearing a lot about Francisco Liriano on this blog. He is my favorite player, due to many reasons. He was the best pitcher in baseball when he was healthy in 2006, even better than Johan Santana. And he is from San Cristobal, Dominican Republic, a city I lived in for almost five months in 2006. He is a big hero in the DR. When I was there every game he pitched in was on national TV. He now has a couple of fellow Dominicans on the team with speedsters Carlos Gomez and Alexi Casilla.

If Liriano can return to form, he will more make up for the loss of Santana. Here’s why: Liriano is very similar to Santana. Santana has the games best changeup, but the Twins pitching coach said that Liriano’s is very similar to Santana’s. But the thing that makes Liriano better is his slider, which everyone says is the best slider they’ve ever seen. A Twin and an ex-Twin agree. Joe Mauer says Liriano has the best stuff he’s ever caught, and Hunter says if he had to chose between Liriano and Santana (assuming they were the same age) he would take Liriano because he has all the nasty pitches Santana has, but he also has the best slider in baseball.