With the waiver wire deadline just a little over a week away, talks about Twins 1st basemen Justin Morneau (pictured above) are beginning to heat up again.
Morneau has gone on a tear so far since the beginning of this month. He's hitting .303 with 7 home runs, 7 doubles, and 19 RBI. He is slugging a whopping .618 and has an OPS of .944 and is showing everyone he still has something left in the tank.
The real question about whether or not he goes depends on if any of these teams interested will actually give up a pitching prospect with a high ceiling or not. If the Twins can't get a high ceiling pitching prospect they will more than likely offer him a contract shortly after the waiver wire deadline on August 31.
The teams rumored to still be interested in him are the Pirates, Rays, Orioles, and Yankees. All of these teams do have high ceiling pitching prospects in A ball that the Twins would be interested in, it's just a matter of are they willing to part ways with the young pitching for maybe just a month of Justin Morneau? The Rangers have shown the willingness to part with their prospects for the short term with the deal they made for Garza last month, but after getting Rios, they don't seem to be looking for a bat anymore.
Here is a list of possible prospects Twins could target from each team:
Orioles- Parker Bidwell is at Low-A, and has struck out 138 batters in 132 innings pitched.
Rays- Jesse Hahn is at High-A, and has struck out 60 batters in 64 innings pitched with a 2.11 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and .220 BAA.
Yankees- Jose Campos is at Low-A, and has struck out 74 batters in 85 innings pitched with a 3.49 ERA and 1.14 WHIP.
Pirates- Tyler Glasnow is at Low-A, and has struck out 147 batters in 101 innings pitched with a 2.40 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and .154 BAA.
My ideal prospect of the 4 would be Glasnow from the Pirates, but any of these prospects would help add depth to our system and help us come 2015 and 2016 when we start to contend again. The Twins may have to eat Morneau's salary and maybe throw in a Brian Duensing to get a high ceiling prospect back, but they should do so to add these quality prospects.
All in all, I'm not sure if Morneau will be gone come September, but the rumors have begun to heat up yet again and we'll see how it plays out.
Written by Nick Calo, follow me on Twitter for more updates and sports thoughts @PRH1987
Morneau has gone on a tear so far since the beginning of this month. He's hitting .303 with 7 home runs, 7 doubles, and 19 RBI. He is slugging a whopping .618 and has an OPS of .944 and is showing everyone he still has something left in the tank.
The real question about whether or not he goes depends on if any of these teams interested will actually give up a pitching prospect with a high ceiling or not. If the Twins can't get a high ceiling pitching prospect they will more than likely offer him a contract shortly after the waiver wire deadline on August 31.
The teams rumored to still be interested in him are the Pirates, Rays, Orioles, and Yankees. All of these teams do have high ceiling pitching prospects in A ball that the Twins would be interested in, it's just a matter of are they willing to part ways with the young pitching for maybe just a month of Justin Morneau? The Rangers have shown the willingness to part with their prospects for the short term with the deal they made for Garza last month, but after getting Rios, they don't seem to be looking for a bat anymore.
Here is a list of possible prospects Twins could target from each team:
Orioles- Parker Bidwell is at Low-A, and has struck out 138 batters in 132 innings pitched.
Rays- Jesse Hahn is at High-A, and has struck out 60 batters in 64 innings pitched with a 2.11 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and .220 BAA.
Yankees- Jose Campos is at Low-A, and has struck out 74 batters in 85 innings pitched with a 3.49 ERA and 1.14 WHIP.
Pirates- Tyler Glasnow is at Low-A, and has struck out 147 batters in 101 innings pitched with a 2.40 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and .154 BAA.
My ideal prospect of the 4 would be Glasnow from the Pirates, but any of these prospects would help add depth to our system and help us come 2015 and 2016 when we start to contend again. The Twins may have to eat Morneau's salary and maybe throw in a Brian Duensing to get a high ceiling prospect back, but they should do so to add these quality prospects.
All in all, I'm not sure if Morneau will be gone come September, but the rumors have begun to heat up yet again and we'll see how it plays out.
Written by Nick Calo, follow me on Twitter for more updates and sports thoughts @PRH1987