Could Blake Return to Minnesota?

Casey Blake played in Minnesota back in 2002, but it wasn’t until he left for Cleveland the next season that his career took off. Prior to the 2003 season when Blake debuted with the Indians, he had hit just three homeruns in a small sampling of four different seasons.

In 2003, Blake had his breakthrough season hitting 17 homeruns and driving in 67 runners. The trend has continued for Blake, and since that breakout year, he has hit a total of 125 homeruns and drove in 434 runners. Blake’s all-time batting average stands at just .264, but he has consistently hit in the high .270s over the past six seasons.

According to several reports yesterday, the Twins have sent the Blake camp ‘framework’ for a potential deal to return him to Minnesota.

With the need for an everyday third basemen, it isn’t a surprise that the team has interest. All along it has seemed as though the team would upgrade the position via trade, but now it looks like Blake is their primary target.

Last season Blake made just over $6 million. It’s hard to tell what the asking price will be, but rumors say that the length would need to be at least two years, and preferably three. Eight other teams have expressed interest, so the Twins sent proposal is just a beginning.

Signing a third basemen rather than trading for one would mean something too. If the Twins do sign Blake, they must do a few things to ensure that it’s a good move:

** If they don’t need to use their extra outfielder or any prospects to fill the void at third, they need to use them to upgrade at shortstop.

** Do not sign Blake and then upgrade in the bullpen with one pitcher and call it an off-season. Blake is a good first move, but if the team sticks with an in-house option at short or if they sign Punto to do the job, it’ll be a failed off-season for the front office.

We should know more as we move into next week, but it looks more and more like the team will have a body at third before the Winter Meetings.