Content provided in partnership with
Twins' wins should keep on coming
Sporting News, The, Oct 25, 2004 by Ken Rosenthal
For the second straight offseason, the Twins will try to solve a vexing jigsaw puzzle. Their free agents include righthander Brad Radke, third baseman Corey Koskie and shortstop Cristian Guzman. Three other arbitration-eligible players, right fielder Jacque Jones, second baseman Luis Rivas and lefthanded reliever J.C. Romero, probably won't be back.
The infield is especially tricky. A friend of Radke's says the pitcher might leave if the Twins go with two questionable defenders, Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer, at first base and second base. Radke's agent, Ron Simon, says, "We've never talked about that."
- Most Popular Articles in Sports
- The first family: Archie, Peyton and Eli are incredibly famous, immensely ...
- The growing gap: driving distances are skyrocketing on the PGA Tour. So why ...
- Which pistol caliber for self defense? Four different people come to four ...
- Drag racing - National Hot Rod Association
- The world's most popular .22: the Marlin Model 60 just keeps on ticking
- More »
The Twins were wise to decline Guzman's $5.25 million option, considering his career on-base percentage is only .303. But if they fail to resign him for a lower salary, they could be left with Jason Bartlett, another youngster whose offense is ahead of his defense, at short.
The oft-injured Koskie, 31, hit 25 homers in 422 at-bats but hasn't played more than 140 games in a season since 2001. Cuddyer could replace Koskie if he doesn't replace Rivas at second. Three other farm system products--outfielder Jason Kubel and pitchers J.D. Durbin and Jesse Crain--also figure to be in the mix.
The Twins' first priority should be Radke, a pillar of their rotation. They shouldn't overpay for Koskie or Guzman. Nor should they package youngsters--say, outfielder Lew Ford and reliever Grant Balfour--for an expensive ace or slugger.
They have depth in their system. Once again, they'll find a way.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Sporting News Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group
Find Research Guides for:
Find Featured Titles for: Business
- Academy of Marketing Science Review
- Accounting Historians Journal, The
- Accounting History
- AgExporter
- Agricultural Research
- Agricultural and Resource Economics Review
- Air Force Comptroller
- Air Safety Week
- Airline Industry Information
- American Demographics
- American Journal of Potato Research
- Architectural Review, The
- Asian Economic News
- Entrepreneur
Most Popular Articles in Sports
- The first family: Archie, Peyton and Eli are incredibly famous, immensely ...
- The growing gap: driving distances are skyrocketing on the PGA Tour. So why ...
- Which pistol caliber for self defense? Four different people come to four ...
- Drag racing - National Hot Rod Association
- The world's most popular .22: the Marlin Model 60 just keeps on ticking
- More »