Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Twins finally make a move

Earlier today I read this rumor on Yahoo! Sports. I dismissed it as just that, since, I mean honestly, who wants Ramon Ortiz.

Terry Ryan, that crazy old man, actually pulled off getting another team to take on Ramon Ortiz and his ridiculous contract (one which he didn't deserve in the first place).

The Twins shipped off Ramon Ortiz to Colorado for AAA-infielder Matt Macri. This gives the Twins now 2 open spots on their 40-man roster, with the other one coming from departed infielder Jeff Cirillo. Brian Buscher was added to the 40-man roster when Luis Castillo was traded. With the roster openings and the now available money, one would hope Terry Ryan could pull the trigger on a deal to bring a bat over.

The fact that Terry Ryan was able to unload Ramon Ortiz on some poor team renews my trust in the Twins G.M. While I was disappointed after the trade deadline with no moves other than the Castillo trade, the man shows he knows what he is doing by unloading a terrible pitcher for yet another young bat.

Also, this is yet another sign that P Glen Perkins is almost ready to come off the disabled list, since Ortiz has held his long relief role since he became injured. Getting rid of Ortiz, with no viable long relievers in Rochester indicates Perkins is probably only a week away from returning.

Macri, a 25 year old currently playing 3B, began the season on Colorado's Double-A affiliate, and hit .298 with 11 home runs. He also can play SS and 2B, which makes him quite valuable to the Twins right now, since their current utility infielders should be in Triple-A. While it seems as if Macri won't be major league ready for a little while, seeing as he was only recently promoted to Triple-A, this may free up the Twins to bring up Matt Tolbert from Rochester to replace Ortiz on the major league roster.

No comments: