Puckett's Pond » Brandon Webb

Twins interested in Brandon Webb

Stuart Dickison — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 00:26:45 +0000

According to Darren Wolfson of ESPN 1500, the Twins will be among the teams to watch right-hander Brandon Webb workout next month.

Webb won the National League CY Young award in 2006, a season in which he owned a 3.10 ERA and finished 16-8 with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Webb hasn’t thrown a pitch in the major leagues since 2009 due to multiple shoulder injuries.

It is certainly no surprise that the Twins will be present for his workout, as there is history with Terry Ryan taking chances on players with with either former success or those that are often-injured, particularly pitchers. Here’s a few examples: Livan Hernandez, Sidney Ponson, Joel Zumaya.

None of those guys were former CY Young winners. Webb’s CY Young winning season wasn’t a fluke.

The three time All Star pitched at least 200 innings between 2004-2008, good for at least 30 starts.

It is important to note Webb finished runner-up for the CY Young in both 2007 and 2008 as well. If Webb can show he’s healthy, it should be expected the Twins will be in the mix to sign Webb.

Seeing that he hasn’t pitched in so long, it should be easy to sign him to a low-based contract. There’s no need to be incredibly upset if he doesn’t do well, especially for a team that is more and more likely looking to build for 2014 and beyond.

Starting Rotation Options

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 19:31:18 +0000

The Twins’ bullpen was the biggest scapegoat of their poor start, but since the All Star Break, the starting rotation has had more than its share of problems. Nick Blackburn is undergoing his annual second half meltdown. Francisco Liriano still hasn’t strung together more than two good starts. Brian Duensing has failed to repeat his dominance from 2009 and 2010. And Scott Baker, the team’s best starter this year, will likely spend the rest of the season on the DL.

In a column for the Star Tribune on Monday, Patrick Reusse noted that the Twins will shed $37 million in payroll this offseason ($40 million if you count the $3 million that Jim Thome is making). Reusse argues that the Twins must use this money to acquire two starting pitchers to head their currently-awful rotation. In reality, not all of the money that the Twins save will be available; they may re-sign Michael Cuddyer or Joe Nathan, the front office may require a payroll reduction, or the team may choose to spend some money to shore up a terrible middle infield. But as Reusse correctly points out, there may be as much as $30 million available for starting rotation help.

In any other year, this would be enough to bring in a true ace pitcher. But the free agent market for 2012 looks pretty thin. A list of potential 2012 free agents can be found here. As you can see, other than CC Sabathia, who might opt out of his massive contract to extort even more money from the wealthy Yankees, there isn’t a lot available on the starting pitching market.

Here are a few highlights, though, with some notes on how they could help the Twins:

Mark Buehrle

The 32 year old is having one of his best seasons in Chicago, posting a 3.14 ERA and a 10-6 record. He’s a rare commodity: a “pitch to contact” style starter who is consistently successful from year to year. 2011 is the 11^th straight season he has won 10 or more games. He’s a known commodity, and he would probably fit in great with the Twins. But it’s pretty much impossible to imagine Buehrle pitching anywhere other than Chicago. If he doesn’t re-sign with the White Sox, he may retire. (more…)

Getting Carded in Arizona

Fri, 20 May 2011 23:23:53 +0000

I’m fairly confident saying that I know less about the 2011 Arizona Diamondbacks than any other MLB team. I asked a couple of my friends if they could name anyone on the Arizona roster and all of them did better than I did. I asked the other Twins Twin and he at least identified a guy that USED to play for the Diamondbacks, Brandon Webb, even if that was two years ago. Since interleague play is so brief, and the Twins are probably NOT going to be playing the Diamondbacks in the World Series, I thought this would be a good time to profile the two players on the Diamondbacks that I have a 2011 baseball card for. (more…)