This may be a good move for the Nats. Capps was a luxury for this team, which can install Clippard as the closer until Storen is fully ready, and Ramos had nowhere to go as long as Joe Mauer is in the Twin Cities.

Any info on Testa?

P.S. I'm guessing there's now a half-price sale on "Clipp and Save" T-shirts at Nats Park.

Testa is a 24-year-old lefty reliever playing in AA. Probably not a whole lot to drool over there.

Not crazy about spending Ramos on Matt Capps. I was hoping he'd be a centerpiece for someone bigger.

Also, I don't know a lot about Matt Capps' demeanor, but did the Twins just move from baseball's most physically intimidating closer to the least?

Agreed. Way too little for Ramos.

I think they had a week to look over Slama and decide how his weird stuff would translate to the bigs, and then they had to make a call. Slama hasn't been all that and a bag of chips, while Duensing has been pretty much exactly what they needed in the rotation. But that move left a hole so the pen gets the arm.

The Twins have a mountain of money tied up in their bullpen right now, and a bunch looks to be coming off over the winter: Guerrier is making $3m+, Rauch is just below $3m, Crain is at $2m and Clay Condrey is making about $1m to rehab his arm, and that excludes Nathan at $12.5m and the rest of the guys below $1m. Adding Capps makes this year work a little better plus it makes things more flexible in 2011.

Of course it was a good move for WAS: they get cheaper and younger at a position of need while only spending from a position of excess. I think the Twins over-paid (How did MIN have to toss in the extra body?) but it's not the end of the world. The Twins have a pile of decent catchers, a looming mess in the pen and a division to win so now's the time for this sort of thing.

I'm not ready to declare Duensing "pretty much exactly what they needed in the rotation." He's made two starts against bad offenses, and he didn't give up many runs, but I'm not sure that'd be enough for me to shift my focus to the bullpen instead of the rotation.

I think the Twins over-paid (How did MIN have to toss in the extra body?)

Probably has to do with the cash they're receiving.

Not crazy about spending Ramos on Matt Capps. I was hoping he'd be a centerpiece for someone bigger.

Agreed. I'm not convinced Capps is that much of an upgrade on Rauch either. Heck, how much of an upgrade is he on whichever reliever gets bumped to the minors (presumably Slama)?

Tsz Tsz Tsz.

You traded Wilson Ramos for WHO? Go #### yourself, Bill Smith.

And I hope and pray the bullpen arm to go is Ron Mahay, lefthandedness be damned.

Noooooooooooooooooooo . . . my fantasy team's main closer is Rauch!

That's what you get, vaux. I agree that ramos is a steep price to pay for a non elite reliever, but it's not a catastrophe bthe twins get a stretch and a year of an affordable guy who doesn't suck. It would have been nice to get a star for ramos, but he was blocked so it's just opportunity cost and we don't really know what else they could have got instead. They got something out of him. I'll live with it.

A great deal for the Nationals. They took a guy who was non-tendered by his previous organization (here's to the Pirates and their solid personnel decisions!), rehabilitated into a saleable closer, and flipped him for something of real value. Gotta love some good old fashioned buy-low/sell-high action.

That's what you get, vaux.

And I just picked up Drew Storen off waivers. Nyah nyah.

What does this mean for Flores? Is he just permanently hurt now?

He's the Nick Johnson of catching. I think they've written him off as a regular option. If they get something, great. But they're not going to rely on him.

I'm excited for whats-his-name, but looking over his stats... he seems decent, but not great. Why are the Twins fans so high on him? Without knowing much about him, he doesn't look like a future superstar... just, perhaps, a decent middle-of-the-road catcher.

Could it be said this is a stop-capp measure?

I still can't believe we actually have to suffer through one more year and millions of dollars more of the personal hit milestone quest of Pudge, whose numbers have predictably dropped faster than a rock in Jupiter's gravity. I don't think the guy is even making an effort to TRY to hit home runs any more at this point.

Everyone remember all that bullcrap that was shoveled out about he was going to be a "mentor" to Jesus Flores? What a freaking joke.

What about Bryce Harper--will he be moved off of catcher?

I'm excited for whats-his-name, but looking over his stats... he seems decent, but not great. Why are the Twins fans so high on him? Without knowing much about him, he doesn't look like a future superstar... just, perhaps, a decent middle-of-the-road catcher.

795 OPS at AA for a 21 y.o. C is pretty good.

Don't know the hitting context at New Britain, but this year's team OPS is 661, and league avg. (eyeballed) is around 730.

A league avg. bat at C is very valuable.

What about Bryce Harper--will he be moved off of catcher?

Too early to say isn't it? Ramos should be in the majors soon. Harper's at least a couple years away.

Harper was drafted as an outfielder, so there's your answer to that. I suspect he will never catch professionally.

The Harper thing is such a dumb move. There are going to be better outfielders than him.

here's to the Pirates and their solid personnel decisions!

Would you want to give a guy $4M+ after he gained a bunch of weight and pitched the way he did last year?

I thought n-ting him was a mistake, but not an unreasonable decision. This is overly reductive, but his biggest problem was that his flyballs were leaving the yard and his BABIP exploded - but you didn't see a lot of evidence as to why this was happening statistically (his G/F had actually risen a bit as had his velocity, his LD% #s were stable, his walks were up a bit but still solid, etc...) If you thought he'd be worth keeping based on his prior three seasons, then he should've stuck around. Whether he's worth that as a solid, but unspectacular reliever who "can close" is another question.
The market, it appears, agreed as well - given his DC signing.

I think this is a terrible trade by the Twins, but I also think is says something about how much Ramos' stock has dropped with a disappointing season. OTOH, Larry Andersen for Jeff Bagwell.

But oh the saves!

The Harper thing is such a dumb move. There are going to be better outfielders than him.

This may be a classic case of the org knows better than we do. But he's also 17--how can they know he won't be able to catch? Maybe they don't want to turn him into Jason Kendall.