The Twins might have to overpay to get a couple of pieces this year as evidenced by them losing out on Cliff Lee to the Rangers. With that in mind I would target Brett Myers and Ty Wigginton. For Myers I would trade the Astros 3B Danny Valencia, SS Trevor Plouffe and Alexi Casilla. I know that seems like a lot but Myers would probably be the Twins’ #2 starter the way things are going right now. This kind of trade would allow you to bump Nick Blackburn from the rotation while leaving lefty Brian Duensing in the pen where he has been incredible this year. Then I would flip reliever Anthony Slama and catcher Jose Morales to the Orioles for Ty Wigginton. If the Twins are never going to give Slama a chance they should at least get something for him. Wigginton would be a huge asset to the Twins as he can handle 1B, 2B and 3B defensively and he would give them a nice righty power bat to even up the lineup a bit more. I know the price tags look a tad high but you know that other teams in front of the Twins won’t be deterred by that. So if you want to play with the big boys you have to ante’ up.

The Twins are 44-38 on the season which has them 1/2 a game behind the Tigers in the A.L. Central. The Twins will likely be after a true #1 starter in the trade market as rumors have them after Cliff Lee. Lee would be outstanding and if the Twins can get him for a couple of nice prospects (Wilson Ramos (C) and Aaron Hicks (OF) have been offered up for him) they need to pull the trigger. If they whiff on Lee look for them to go after Roy Oswalt (Astros) or Dan Haren (D-Backs). A wildcard would be if the Twins went after Ricky Nolasco of the Marlins who has a nice upside. Any of those four guys would be a HUGE upgrade over Nick Blackburn who is stinking it up this season. The Twins also could use some bench help for the stretch run. Rajai Davis (OF), Adam Kennedy (2B, 3B), Craig Counsell (IF), Mike Fontenot (IF), Jeff Baker (IF) or Jeff Keppinger (IF) all make sense for the Twins.

The Twins only have two holes on the roster as I look at things right now. With that in mind they need to get bold and make a couple of moves. First off I would trade catcher Wilson Ramos to the Blue Jays for Jason Frasor. The Twins need help in the bullpen and the Blue Jays would jump at making this trade as Ramos would be their starting catcher of the future. But he is blocked with the Twins by Joe Mauer and he isn’t going to help the team by playing well in AAA. Then I would call the Cleveland Indians and I would offer them Alex Burnett or Jeff Manship plus Alexi Casilla for Jhonny Peralta. I’m pretty positive that the Indians would make that deal seeing as they aren’t going anywere fast. Getting Peralta and Frasor would lock up the A.L. Central in my book.

With the Twins moving into their new stadium this April they can afford to throw some cash around. With big holes all over the infield they should consider calling the Florida Marlins. The Twins could offer up lefty pitchers Francisco Liriano, Glenn Perkins, 2B Alexi Casilla, 3B Brian Buscher and a prospect to the Marlins for Dan Uggla, Jorge Cantu and lefty reliever Reynel Pinto. The Marlins need pitching and they also need to trim the payroll so this would allow them to kill two birds with one stone. Uggla and Cantu would make the Twins one of the most dangerous teams in all of baseball. Pinto would give them another power arm to team with Mijares in the bullpen. The Twins need to make something like this happen this winter if they strikeout in the free agent market for a 2B and 3B.

The Twins need an upgrade at 3B, so with that in mind why not trade Boof Bonser to the Brewers for Bill Hall and cash? The Twins have a lot of better options than Bonser coming up in the minor league system for the rotation. Bonser has pitched in 17 games (12 starts) for the Twins this season and he is 3-6 with a 6.45 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP. Bill Hall has decent power but he has lost his full time starting job in Milwaukee. He has played in 63 games for the Brewers this year and he is 46 for 213 (.216 avg, .675 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 9 homers, 25 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Hall is just two years removed from a season in which he hit 35 homers, scored 101 runs and drove in 85. This would likely be a move that helped both teams.