Twins trade for A's shortstop Cabrera

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Twins made a move to upgrade their middle infield, acquiring shortstop Orlando Cabrera from the Oakland Athletics for the stretch run in the crowded AL Central race.

Midseason trades haven’t been much a part of Twins history, but in the last week All-Stars Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Joe Nathan have pined for some action with the division title there for the taking and Mauer’s future beyond next season unsecured. Minnesota was in second place, a half-game ahead of the Chicago White Sox and two games behind Detroit when Friday began.

Shortly after the Tigers struck a deal with Seattle for starting pitcher Jarrod Washburn, the Twins completed their trade with the A’s a few hours before baseball’s non-waiver deadline. Oakland sent Cabrera and cash to Minnesota for minor league infielder Tyler Ladendorf, a second-round draft pick last year who was recently promoted to the team’s low-level Class-A affiliate.

The Twins need more production up the middle with Nick Punto and Alexi Casilla struggling to hit this season, but Cabrera’s .318 on-base percentage isn’t ideal for what has been a big hole in the second spot in the batting order. Cabrera was batting .280 with four homers, 41 RBIs and 11 steals for Oakland. He wasn’t expected to be at the Metrodome in time for Friday night’s game against the Angels, one of his five former teams.

Since July 1, Cabrera has batted .373 with eight doubles, two homers and 16 RBIs in 110 at-bats. He’s a two-time Gold Glove winner, in 2001 and 2007, who has a career .274 average. In 2004, Cabrera was sent from Montreal to Boston at the trade deadline to take over at shortstop for Nomar Garciaparra and helped the Red Sox win the World Series.

Cabrera signed a one-year contract for $4 million with the A’s in March.

The last time the Twins made a significant move in July, they acquired left fielder Shannon Stewart in 2003 from the Toronto Blue Jays and used his production and steadiness to rally in the race and win the AL Central.

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