August 7, 2009 – The Twins apparently have acquired right handed starting pitcher Carl Pavano from the Cleveland Indians who have been trading everyone in sight the last few weeks. Pavano has a long history of injuries but this year he has not pitched all that badly and he certainly can’t hurt the Twins rotation. I doubt he will be around to see Target Field but for 2009 he is a decent addition. To me this smacks of a desperation move by the Twins and GM Smith but with the young staff pitching as poorly as they have been, you have to try something. The Twins still have a huge uphill fight to win the division but at least this is a step in the right direction.
I would guess this means that Liriano or Perkins goes to the bullpen for the immediate future and that is not all bad, either way you take a weak link out of the rotation and maybe help the bullpen where Keppel has shown time after time that he does not belong in the big leagues. Who will the Twins send packing to add Pavano to the roster? I would guess it has to be Keppel…..it just has to be. But when it was all said and done it turned out to be R.A. Dickey who was sent back down to Rochester. Kind of surprising to me I guess, not that Dickey has been that great but he has been put into some wicked spots by Gardenhire and I think deserves to be with the Twins more than Keppel does.