MLB: Minnesota Twin's Whatnot 6/17

The Minnesota Whatnot staff is shorthanded today, with only Marty Andrade and I able to contribute this week. We will still have fun talking draft, trades, and Chicago White Sox.

How many draft recaps have you read since the end of the MLB Draft?

Marty Andrade: I read a couple. A few more than normal just to make sure I had a cogent answer to a question in an earlier Twins Whatnot. Not too many though. People can really go overboard when it comes to following the baseball draft. Unlike in other sports, the draft in baseball doesn't have any real consequences for years and years after it takes place. Everyone should have a general idea about the organizational strength of their favorite team. The draft is an important indicator of how your team's management and scouting process works and what kind of team you can expect some years down the road but it's also very important to see what kind of players are working their way through high A and AA ball, if not more important. It's also more important to see what kinds of players are picked up off of waivers.

Andrew Kneeland: Maybe three or four. I really don't read as many or as much as I "should.”  I don't even read though more than one team. I find them very enlightening but very repetitive. If I don't snooze off by the third one, something is seriously wrong with me. I don't know why I can read 10 tons of NBA or NFL pre- and post-draft summaries. I even wrote a few!

If Minnesota were forced out of contention, would you recommend a trade? What would you do?

Marty Andrade: Well, here’s a short list of some of the moves I'd try:

-Livan Hernandez is for sale, I'd take about any trade otherwise he should be designated for assignment.

-Nick Punto for sale, any reasonable offer (like a few hundred new baseball bats).  Since he's almost not embarrassing this year, this might be doable.

-Adam Everett, Brendan Harris, and Mike Lamb are for sale.  If I couldn't trade them (especially Lamb, who we stupidly signed to a multi-year deal), I'd probably just give up on them and designate them for assignment (Harris isn't too bad, but we have cheaper players in the system who could fill his role).

-Jason Pridie and Denard Span would be fair trading options as well.  They've stuck behind Gomez and both could be decent MLB bench players right now.

-Craig Monroe is next in line for pumpkin nation, so I'd try to pawn him off on some team looking for some extra power off the bench.

-Brian Bass might have some suitors.

-I'd also entertain offers on Joe Nathan, if the price was right.

The returns on my fire sale would be more on the side of addition by subtraction, but the Twins could probably come away with some mid-level power hitting prospects.

Andrew Kneeland: I would trade Livan Hernandez right away to the Chicago White Sox. I would love the opportunity to bat against his right arm.

I would also consider a move that would draw much debate. Could Liriano be moved to the closer position? You could allow him to throw harder and he could throw his deadly slider. I would consider trading Nathan for some infield relief or organizational depth.

Do you think Chicago can hang on to the offensive success they have had lately?

Marty Andrade: There's going to some regression with the White Sox (I'm assuming this question is about the White Sox).  Carlos Quentin has a very low LD% for his present production, Toby Hall has an unusually high BABIP, which will drop as the season goes on, five of the White Sox players have unusually high BA/RISP, and those will also regress.  It's still going to be a potent team but it will be a beatable team.

Andrew Kneeland: They won't drop from contention, but they won't continue this success they have been having. I'm sure they are having the times of their lives right now, but it will soon fade as Minnesota, Detroit, and Cleveland improve.

If the Minnesota Twins dropped off the face of the Earth, who would you root for?

Marty Andrade: Either the St. Paul Saints or the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks of the Northern League. I could be pressured into picking a MLB team (probably the Rockies) but I'd rather follow local teams that I could conceivably go see play an actual game.

Andrew Kneeland: The Arizona Diamondbacks and it's not close.