Kubel, Cuddyer and Nathan Could Leave Minnesota

63-99 does sound a lot better than 62-100.

Know what sounds terrible? The idea that Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel and Joe Nathan may have just finished their last season as a Minnesota Twin is perhaps more disappointing than the season itself.

All three of those boys have been integral parts to division championships and could be gone by the time next season starts.

No matter how terrible, awful and tear-jerking this season was, the Twins have good players to which the fans are loyal. I'm loyal to Nathan, Kubel and Cuddy. The same goes for the players as Scott baker told the Pioneer Press, "It's a business, but they're my friends. I've been teammates for at least five years with these guys, and obviously I hope they're back." The feeling is mutual on my end, Scott... can I call you Scotty?

Bill Smith appears to have a lot on his plate heading out of the regular season. Clearly the Twins need to pick up some healthy prospects in the event 2012 is worse injury-wise than 2011 (which seems impossible, doesn't it?), but the idea of letting go out such foundational franchise players leaves me feeling like I forgot my cell at home - naked.

Do the right thing, Bill. If you let those three go to other teams, you better bring in three equally talented so we can grow to love them as well... and win our division. Its been too long...

At least we aren't the Red Sox.

Kansas City Minnesota Twins Series Preview

The Twins begin a series with the Kansas City Royals tonight. This is a huge series for the Twins. It is their first series since the All Star break. While they are six and a half games back, this stretch until the deadline will be the final push for the team. If they falter and move back to say 8 or 9 games back by the time that July 31st deadline rolls around, they will likely be sellers and could trade away some interesting players. Players that could be dealt include Francisco Liriano, Michael Cuddyer, and Jim Thome. Here are the pitching match ups for the Twins upcoming series with the Kansas City Royals.

July 14th:

Liriano (5-7)

Chen (5-2)

July 15th:

Blackburn (7-6)

Hochevar (5-8)

July 16th:

Pavano (6-6)

Francis (3-10)

July 17th:
Duensing (6-7) Paulino (1-6)

Check Out My Thoughts on the All Star Game and Cuddyer

I wrote a blog about the All Star Game and how Cuddyer did. You can also check out my twitter. I'll post some links right here.

Link to blog: Twins Baseball Love

Twitter: Mntwinslove

Trade Cuddyer?

The Twins face some difficult decisions in the upcoming weeks. They can either become buyers or sellers. A lot of that depends on how the team plays in the next couple of weeks. If they continue to play better, they could become buyers at the trade deadline and try to make a playoff push or they could become sellers and try to build for the future. If they become sellers, which it's looking likely that they will be, look for them to try to trade Michael Cuddyer. Why Cuddyer?

Cuddyer is a likely candidate for a few reasons. The first being that his value might never be higher considering he is playing extremely well and has brought his average up past .270 after a poor start to the season. He's also very versatile. He can play 1st base, has played 2nd, and can play the corner outfield spots. He's also played a little 3rd base and could play centerfield if need be. Since he's so versatile, he could helpful towards pretty much any contender.