The Philadelphia Phillies made a brave choice back in 2009 when they traded for stud left-hander Cliff Lee. They sent Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald, Jason Knapp and Lou Marson to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for the Cy Young-award winner.

Lee got the Phillies within two wins of a repeat World Series championship back then, mowing down the Yankees like they were a bunch of Little Leaguers (except Derek Jeter, who seemed to be okay). But, based on what Carrasco did tonight, it’s clear that the Phillies made a ginormous mistake.

Sure, Carrasco only pitched in five games in 2009 was an absolute Turd Ferguson. He pitched in seven in 2010 and was a bit better. And through 10 games this season, he has been tearing up the entire American League with a 5.18 ERA.

Tonight was Carrasco’s swan song, however. He hurled 8 1/3 shutout innings against the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins who have a lineup to die for. Just when hitters thought that Carrasco would zig, he zagged. And then threw fastballs and other pitches. Sometimes, he threw both at the same time.

And while it’s not clear what kind of pitches he threw, what is clear is that the Phillies made a huge mistake in trading him away for a marginal pitcher like Cliff Lee.

There has been talk for a while that the Minnesota Twins would move Francisco Liriano. Specifically, we kept hearing the New York Yankees name come up. But, it died for a while so we didn’t think much of it.

Then, I’m sitting here playing video poker online, when I click over and see that the speculation has ramped up again. This time, it’s coming from trusted MLB source Bob Nightengale.

“Bob Nightengale of USA Today just told us that he thinks its possible that Liriano is traded to the Yanks in nxt 2 weeks for Nova or Joba +,” Jim Bowden of MLB Radio tweets.

In addition to other pieces, it looks like the Twins would get Ian Nova or Joba Chamberlain back. We have no clue why they would want to get Joba, but to each his own.

Liriano would immediately be the Yankees No. 2 starter behind C.C. Sabathia. He rebounded well after some injury issues a couple of years ago, going 14-10 with a 3.62 ERA and 191.2 innings pitched in 2010.

Several baseball executives tell Ken Rosenthal of Foxsports.com that the Seattle Mariners are ready to trade LHP Cliff Lee right now, despite what GM Jack Zduriencik has said recently.

“We’re just going to try to win baseball games,” Zduriencik said Friday. “I’m not a fool. But in the same sense, who the heck knows? We’ll see what happens.”

“I’m not willing to throw in the towel just yet – our pitching is too good,” Zduriencik said.

That doesn’t seem to be the case. The sources that spoke to Rosenthal are from teams that have called the Mariners with interest in Lee. One source predicts that Lee will be moved in the next 7-10 days.

Lee is 6-3 with a 2.39 ERA this season. He has struck out 76 and walked only four. Sources tell Rosenthal that the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers and Texas Rangers are the most likely landing spot. Others think the Minnesota Twins have the inside track.

This means that no one has any clue and we’re all just guessing.

This is great. The Philadelphia Phillies played pretty poorly this weekend and blew what should have been a series win against the Minnesota Twins. Giving up five runs in the ninth inning to go to extra innings on Saturday was not a good idea.

But alas, there is always some good that happens when a sport is played in Philadelphia. In this case, it was Citizens Bank Park.

Watch the fan in the upper left hand corner in the blue shirt. He attempts to go down a row but fails miserably. Apparently the fans were mimicking the local baseball team this weekend.

The Minnesota Twins and stud catcher Joe Mauer have agreed on an eight-year, $184 million contract that will pay Mauer a ton of money.

“Mauer’s deal will pay him $23 million each year from 2011 to 2018. #stribtwins,” Joe Christensen tweets.

Holy hell that’s a lot of dough. One would have to think that catchers who hit .365 are a rarity or something. The deal, which includes a full no-trade clause, is very similar to the eight-year $180 million deal Mark Teixeira got from the New York Yankees.

Minnesota Twins fans can now be elated and know that they’ll never be able to pay anyone else to surround Mauer with. At some point, we anticipate some complaints from Mauer about the team just not being competitive every year.

Minnesota Twins closer Joe Nathan and his elbow will miss the entire 2010 season.

Nathan tore his ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow on March 6 during a 20-pitch outing in a spring training game against the Boston Red Sox.

For ten minutes on Sunday, Nathan had a catch with Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson.  It was during the toss when Nathan decided to go ahead and have surgery on the elbow.  The surgery will take place within two weeks.

The 35-year-old right-hander went 2-2 with a 2.10 ERA and a career-best 47 saves last season.

According to a dude on Twitter who probably knows what he’s talking about, the Minnesota Twins have signed their leadoff man, Denard Span, to a five-year, $16.5 million deal with a $9 million club option for 2015.

“Denard Span’s deal is 5 years, $16.5 million with an club option for 2015 at $9 million,” Joe Christensen tweets.

$3.3 million a year for a leadoff hitter? He hit .311 last year and his on-base % was north of .390 (it was .392, so why did we go through all of this just to let you know it was higher than .390 when we could have just typed out .392 to begin with? It’s one of the many inefficiencies in the OTR offices and we are working to correct them). If he keeps up this pace, and there isn’t really a reason to think he won’t, the Twins have gotten themselves a hell of a deal.

Minnesota Twins closer Joe Nathan has been diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament, according to Joe Christensen (who?) on Twitter.

“Joe Nathan has been diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament. Will decide whether to have surgery within two weeks. #stribtwins,” he tweets.

This isn’t good for Nathan and it ain’t good for the Twins chances of winning much of anything this year. Nathan is going to relax for two weeks and wait for the swelling to go down. Then, he’ll try to throw a baseball. If/when that doesn’t go well, he’ll have to decide whether to get Tommy John surgery.

Photo Caption: Too much of this will lead to Tommy John surgery.

The Twins would then most likely turn to John Rauch (ouch) as their closer. They could also send in Matt Guerrier, who did a decent job last year in that role. Or, they could go to the closer-by-committee approach, because that always works so god damn well.

According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Minnesota Twins are close to signing second baseman Orlando Hudson to a one-year, $5 million contract. “Heard this: Hudson is closing in on a $5 million with the Twins,” Olney tweets.

The price may seem a little high, but it’s not too bad and Hudson is a definite upgrade over Nick Punto, who played 2b for the Twins last year. He’s fast as all get out, but not really very good at the rest of the game.

Photo Caption: Hudson’s ties to late 1930′s Germany hurt his value on the free agent market.

The 32-year old Hudson hit .283 last year with nine HR’s and 62 RBI’s.

That headline is a bit misleading. While it’s true that the AL MVP-winning catcher could conceivably be in jail before the holidays if he went out and broke the law, we meant to say that he could have a huge long-term deal by then, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

The 26-year old, who just four years ago was 22, ran away with the MVP vote by hitting an astounding .365 and a career best 28 HR’s. He also chipped in 96 RBI’s while playing Gold Glove defense. Jesus Christ.

But when asked by national reporters about getting a new contract, Mauer didn’t seem worried.

“I knew I’d probably run into a question like that,” Mauer said. “I’ve always said it will take care of itself when it needs to.”

Photo Caption: “Yeah, I can pretty much bang any girl I want.”

The 2006 AL MVP, Justin Morneau, also chimed in.

“We’re going to do everything we can to keep him as a Minnesota Twin,” said Morneau, who has no say whatsoever in whether or not Mauer signs with the Twins. “The biggest thing now isn’t the money. It’s going to be whether or not he feels we can win every day with the talent we have.”

The Milwaukee Brewers have sent shortstop J.J. Hardy to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for speedy centerfielder Carlos Gomez. Hardy hit .229 with 11 HR’s in 2009, and many experts think that stinks. It’s not a shock that he was traded although many speculated that the Brewers would get pitching in return.

Gomez came to the Twins in the Johan Santana deal with the Mets. He was a top prospect for the Mets with blazing speed, with the only question being whether or not he could hit.

SIDE NOTE: Doesn’t that mean “we don’t know if he can play baseball”?

While Gomez hit just .246 last year, he can definitely play defense and is only 23.

Jason Kubel hit two three-run home runs as the Minnesota Twins cruised to an easy 13-4 shellacking of the hapless Kansas City Royals. Across town (not really), the Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox and we now have a one-game playoff.

Of course, it will be played Tuesday at the Metrodome since it will be the Brettrodome on Monday night as the Packers come in to take on the Vikings.

Oddly, the one-game playoff will be in the form of a sword fight. No baseball will be played and one thing is sure: someone will die.

The top prospect in the Dominican Republic, 16-year old Miguel Angel Sano, has agreed to sign with the Minnesota Twins, agent Rob Plummer told the Post-Gazette.

Sano will sign for a $3.15 million bonus.

“I’m very thankful to get this chance to sign with the Twins,” Sano said. “I’m going to work very hard to try to get to the majors in two years.”

Sano, who currently plays shortstop, has been heavily pursued this year by many major league baseball teams.  He currently is measured at 6’3″ and draws comparisons to Gary Sheffield and Wily Mo Pena with his superb bat.  If he continues to grow, he will most likely be moved to one of the corners or to the outfield.

Also included in the $3.15 million deal is his choice between Miley Cirus or Ali Lohan.

PHOTO CAPTION:  “My sister loves coke, driving, and telephone poles”

The Minnesota Twins have yet to request Chicago Cubs pitcher Rich Harden’s medical records, indicating that a trade is unlikely. Harden has been on the Mark Prior List seven times in the last four years, so there is no way they would make an offer for this guy without checking out his current medical status.