Kevin Youkilis was in town today to play the Twins. He’s batting second and wearing a new pair of Sox. The Youkilis trade is likely to be the first of many before the trade deadline on July 31st at 5pm (CST).

One of the Twins trade bait arms went on the DL today. Matt Capps was taken out of commission today with right shoulder inflammation. His name had been tossed as a potential moving piece. Why not with Perkins “pretty much killin’ it” as a closer when called upon?

The payoff for trading Capps likely wouldn’t be big enough for the average fan to care but the Twins need all the minor league prospects they can get.

Span has also been involved in trade rumors since last season. As terrible as it would be, the Yankees could be a good fit for Span with their aging outfield and injured Brett Gardner. I just cried a little writing that.

The big or little trade piece will be Liriano…depending on how these next starts go. He served no value in the bullpen pitching in garbage time after originally being pulled from the rotation this season.

He’s been decent since being placed back in the rotation the end of May. In five starts he’s gone at least five and two-thirds innings each game, giving up four or fewer runs and striking out at least six.

If teams are hesitant to take a look at Liriano they should call Kyle Lohse, Matt Garza or R.A. Dickey and see how a change of surroundings helped out those former Twins.

- Peter J. Nelson