Check Swings

Early in the offseason, the talk has been more about who will be running teams than who will be playing for them, as Tampa recently settled on the young-old duo, Los Angeles and Boston continue searching, and Washington continues to play the role of waiting-for-someone-better. I was energized by the idea of Theo Epstein to Washington, but I’m not sure how likely that scenario could be. If he wanted to leave Boston just to lower his profile, it would make sense. Washington also offers a decent-sized market in a division without the Yankees (but with the Mets, who look to be on the rise). He would have to rebuild a depleted farm system, gutted by temporary GMs when it looked like the franchise could be contracted, but he has experience with going ground-up in the minors. At this point, I’m holding out hope.

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Meanwhile, the Red Sox are talking to… Jim Bowden??? Afterwards, they will have a sit-down with Baltimore’s Jim Beattie. For a team that has been so rewarded for progressive thinking, measured risk-taking and rewarding intelligence, I’m at a loss for why they would want to take the ultimate knee-jerk reaction to needing a new general manager. When rumors about Kevin Towers cropped up immediately after Theo’s resignation I figured him to be the natural replacement: a guy with connections to the team’s front office stepping into a higher profile job. But he decided to avoid the circus, too, leaving them with proven scrubs and unnamed candidates. If Bowden gets the job, his first transactions will be to trade Kevin Youkilis and John Papelbon to Cincinnati for Wily Mo Pena, then to sign every member of the 1996 AL All-Star team not currently under contract (remember, Carlos Baerga and Wil Cordero showed up in RFK more times last summer than can be attributed to an accident).

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On the home front, Terry Ryan played his cards characteristically close to the vest in an interview with the Strib. Probably won’t sign Paul Konerko: good. Probably won’t trade Torii Hunter: not so good, although he said he’d listen to deals for the overpriced and declining CF. Probably will trade for offense: I certainly hope so, if he wants to continue running the team. Probably will make small free agent signings to shore up the middle IF: oh, like he did with Juan Castro? Seriously though, if the Twins don’t sign Bill Mueller after the in-season trade talk and 35 different reports of mutual interest in the off-season, it will be the biggest tease since Bugs Bunny dressed up like a girl Bunny to flirt with Elmer Fudd. Presumably, he would play third and bat second, leaving a rickety old one-two punch of Shannon Stewart and Mueller. Mueller is a line-drive hitter who doesn’t rely on speed, so his age 34, 35 and 36 seasons should not be all that different if he stays healthy (big if).

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Another Minnesota rumor involves the Twins taking on Jim Thome to share 1B and DH duties with Morneau. If the rumor sounds preposterous, remember that it came from the desk of Sid Hartman. I don’t think Hartman’s even trying at this point; he just throws out gossip like he’s the second most popular cheerleader at his school who wants more attention. Nobody is going to trade for Thome until they see if he’s remotely able to hit in spring training, and the Twins aren’t very good candidates to swallow the $43.5 million remaining on his contract over the next three years. I’d say that you shouldn’t get too excited about the Thome rumor, but I think that advice is unnecessary, because I don’t know anyone who would be excited about getting this version of Jim Thome.

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In the Baseball Prospectus 2005 book, the writers described Jacque Jones as the type of hitter who makes for cheap complementary talent for a while, but once his salary hits arbitration, it quickly starts to overwhelm his on-field value. Jones might be a good fit for a team that needs a lefty bad and a good corner-OF glove, but the Twins are not in a position for that sort of luxury, or to afford an escalating salary in the name of sentimentality for division titles gone by. Luckily, Joe Christensen makes it sound like they’re about to let him walk to St. Louis, Atlanta, or whomever else wants to pay a platoon hitter everyday money. There are things about Jacque that I will miss, like the way he wears his hat slightly askew. None of those things, though, has much of anything to do with winning games. I’ll always remember him for being the only player of his generation who wouldn’t surprise me by swinging at a pickoff throw to first.