I'm not generally big on proposing pretend trades- this unintentionally hilarious Don McKee column the other day is an anti-classic of the genre- but here's an idea:
Phillies trade Rodrigo Lopez to the Twins for Nick Punto. The Phils now have seven starters and Lopez is the odd man out; since he has a 3-0 record and has looked pretty strong, so he actually has some trade value. The Twins need a starter, with Kevin Slowsky out for the season, and it would be good to have at least one veteran in the rotation. The Phillies could ease their rotation logjam, while Punto could slide into the utility infielder role and allow the Phils to jettison Eric Bruntlett. The Twins, meanwhile, have enough mediocre infielders that they won't miss Punto, plus if he goes Gardenhire won't ever be tempted to put him in the starting lineup again.
Posted by Stephen Silver at July 30, 2009 04:32 PM2 things:
1) Gardenhire will try to put Punto in the starting lineup even when he's dead.
2) I would trade Nick Punto for a pile of wet socks.
Posted by: Jeremy at July 30, 2009 05:22 PM