Shopping Juan Rincon

is the Twins fan wanting to peddle from their MLB team's strength to fortify this season.  The Twins bullie is among the best and trading Crain, Romero, Rincon and Nathan have all been brought up lately in various threads.

I would not trade any of the bullpen guys to help this team, but rather dip into a talent rich farm system to fill those needs.

Am I in the minority here?

I would rather not trade from the existing relievers you mentioned.  IF the Twins can get to the playoffs, those guys will play a huge role.  Just see last year, when Gardy extended Nathan instead of using Crain in game 2 vs NYY...

The talent in the farm system can be used to bring in player(s).  That said, Ryan shouldn't deplete his team just for this year...

IMHO, the Twins will have more holes than they can fill by trading Lohse, Bonser, and Durbin.  Next year they have holes or at least serious question marks at 3B, SS, 2B, RF, DH.  The next year (if not before) LF and CF are added to the list.  Bartlett, Kubel and Cuddyer may (or may not) fill a hole.

... losses due to bullpen collapses in the late innings are seen as more "preventable", and so are far more embarrassing to GMs/managers than other losses.  Although it might be perfectly logical in the long term to cash in Rincon and/or Nathan now, I don't see any contending team actually doing that, unless the trade brought back relievers thought to be of almost equal value.

The reason us Twins fans are talking about trading either Nathan, Rincon, or Crain is because we do have serious issues on offense.  We also have several pitchers in the minors who could come up and fill a good role in that bullpen.  Bowyer, Baker, Liriano, and maybe Neshek, to name a few.  Yes, our bullpen and starting pitch depth is a strength, but we simply need to make the right kind of deal for a bat.  For this year and next.  Eventually Nathan or Rincon should be dealt, it will probably be Nathan (probably next year at the deadline since I think he is gone after 2006, not sure though).

My choice for the closer would be Rincon.  He has better stuff than Crain, who has been good so far, but a little lucky too.  

to upgrade offense, Juan Rincon is not going to bring you any hitter of quality to improve your team.  You own a strength that a lot of teams cannot match so to weaken yourself without a huge improvment is not moving the ballclub forward..

If the need is that serious, Nathan would have to be involved as he could return quality (again assuming you want to deal from your MLB roster and the bullpen).  Otherwise you would have to dip into your system to make a significant trade.  Personally I would peddle Durbin and Bosner first as I don't think either will amount to much.

Ryan should have gone after Polanco and should target Ensberg in another few weeks, if available.  Maybe Melvin Mora since he knows the pitchers in the AL--Cuddyer and Durbin for MM?

Again, I would not weaken your advantage, but trade from your system to upgrade the O.  But that's just me.

Yes, I think TR (Terry Ryan) missed the boat with Polanco.  He's excellent and we could have offered the Phillies more than Urbina.  It's very possible that we did offer Rincon, Bonser, Bowyer, or Durbin for Polanco, it's too bad Ed Wade isn't that smart, because that would have been a better trade.  Now he gets Urbina for three quarters of a year and has to pay him millions.  But it sends a message!  sigh

I wish we would have gotten Polanco, but oh well.  Ensberg isn't going anywhere, IMO.  

I'm fine with trading Nathan, say, to the Red Sox, as long as we get Youkils and Hanley Ramirez or Pedroia in return.  Epstein probably won't do that though, which is smart.  You're right that Rincon doesn't have as much value as Nathan, which is too bad because he's almost just as good.  I'm pretty sure TR knows that though.    

The market this year says that relievers are going to bring back the biggest premium. Since that is the case, I don't see any problem with trading one of your bullpen guys for a big bat. Not only do you inprove your team for this year, but you get the most value possible out of Rincon/Nathan. Classic sell high.

Contrary to some peoples belief, you do not need to have four superstar relievers. Nathan, Romero and Crain or Rincon, Romero, and Crain is still one of the best bullpens in baseball and would be a terrifying force in the post season. Having that extra arm is not worth not having an extra bat. You only need three relievers total to get through a post season when you have good starting pitching (see Yankees 1998-2001, Rivera, Nelson, and sometimes Stanton). Trade a reliever and downgrade a little in the 6th inning and get a big time bat or two.

I have a feeling he's going to have a pretty awful second half. It looks like AL hitters are finally figuring him out.