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In early December 2018 the Minnesota Twins found their replacement for Brian Dozier. With the fan-favorite having been traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers prior to his free agency, Derek Falvey and Thad Levine needed to find another second basemen. Replacing Dozier’s pop wouldn’t be easy, but they tabbed a former All Star to do so when they inked Jonathan S...

My 2020 Offseason Blueprint builds a Twins roster that can win the World Series within the next two years. I’ve tried to address the three weaknesses that TD staff have ably outlined in previous articles:
A rotation depleted by free agency and in need of a second front-line starting pitcher.
Poor infield defense.
An inability to attract first-tier free ag...

I am not advocating trading him, but I have read so many trade Rosario scenarios I began to wonder what would happen if we took another of our players and put them out there. Admittedly Betts is the FA RF that will dominate all discussions, but what would Kepler bring us?

Here are his basic stats for the MLB career and a comparison with his MIB stats.

T...

Throw another log on the off-season blueprint fire because here's one more opinion about how the Twins should approach the winter. I believe this game plan is realistic and it would make the 2020 Twins a more complete team than the 2019 Twins. This off-season is all about adding quality pitching (hopefully a lot of it!), and my blueprint does just that....

As I was pondering about the potential rotation for the Twins in 2020, I remembered something. It had been in the back of my mind but it came to the forefront today.

Thad Levine, in an interview with Aaron Gleeman, proclaimed that the Twins explored a trade during the season for Trevor Bauer. I can not remember the exact quote, but it went something like...

First I non-tender Cron, tough decision, but have too many moving parts to keep him.
This leaves me with
C - Garver
1B - Sano
2B - Arreaz
ss - Polonco
3B - Gonzalez
LF - Rosario
CF - Buxton
RF - Kepler
DH - Cruz

Of - Cave
OF - Wade
UTL - Adrianza
C - Like the thought of signing Maldenado for about $3

This should give me the flexibility in case Gordon...

In January 2019, Thad Levine answered a question at Twins Fest:

"The best time to acquire players of that magnitude is when your window to win is wide open, not when you got your fingers underneath the window and you're trying to jam the window open. I want to do it when we're projected to win the Central and we're ready to put our foot on someone's thro...

Introduction

Coming off 101 wins in 2019, the Twins have put themselves in a position that GM’s could merely dream of. They only have around $70 million in guaranteed contracts and expected arbitration salaries on the books for 2020, making the possibilities almost endless. The window is open and it’s time to take full advantage of the roster and payro...

Here is my first blueprint for the Twins offseason. I'm using baseballtradevalues.com to come up with the trade scenarios.

1) Let CJ Cron walk.
2) Re-sign Sergio Romo, 1 year 3 million. Re-sign Jason Castro, 1 years 6 million with an option.
3) Keep Odorizzi, either through QO or work out a 3 year deal.
4) Trade Eddie Rosario, Jordan Balazovic and Lewi...

This time last year, I gave an offseason blueprint that had the Twins winning 100 games in 2019. Commenter tarheeltwinsfan appreciated that, saying "I like your hope-filled optimism." Well, so did the Twins, and they one-upped it by winning 101, beating my overly-optimistic hope by a win.

What won the Twins the division in 2019 won't do so in 2020. They...

While I certainly chat with the white whales this offseason (Cole, Strasburg, Rendon), ultimately none land in Minnesota. That doesn't mean the offseason cannot be a success. I move forward with the following:

Zach Wheeler - 4 years/76 million
Mike Moustakas - 3 years/42 million
Jake Odorizzi - 3 years/39 million
Will Smith - 3 years/35 million
Jason Cas...

Here we go...this first one will hurt...
Trade Miguel Sano, Alex Kirilloff and Jhoan Duran or Balazovic to the Reds for Luis Castillo
Trade Eddie Rosario and a couple of lower prospects for Jeff Hoffman
Let Sam Dyson go
Pay Martin Perez his buyout
Project payroll: $67.5M

Sign Marcell Ozuna for 3 years, $36M
Sign Josh Donaldson for 2 years $45M
Sign Madis...

If you read my article last week on the 2019 Minnesota Twins bullpen, then you already know my thoughts on how the season went. It was a roller coaster ride for the ages. For my article today, though, I will be moving past 2019 and looking ahead to the offseason. I will be looking at where things currently stand for the Twins bullpen, what decisions need...

Fellow Twins Daily contributor Matthew Lenz and I discussed a few topics related to the Twins outfield. He recently wrote a piece for the site on Byron Buxton's defensive impact. We discussed some of the interesting things he discovered, the potential of an Eddie Rosario trade and more.

2020 Offseason Plan

My basic theories/assumptions:
A. Be realistic. If your plan assumes Cole, Strasburg, Ryu, Rendon, Chapman, or Bumgarner will sign here, I think you are doing this exercise wrong.
B. Teams are likely to hang onto those solid #2/3 starters (Syndergaard, Minor, Ray, etc) in the offseason unless you overpay or they are trying to dump s...

Overall, it's not hard to be excited about the Twins in 2020 given a 101 win season in 2019. The ending certainly wasn't ideal, but 2019 showed us that our window is open and it should be for a few years. Cleveland remains the only real competition in the central. Chicago is up and coming, but they are likely another year or two away before they can have...

Over the off-season there will be PLENTY of chatter about the Twins. They're primed to be BOLD and make a YUGE splash in free agency.

As a seasoned Twins fan I'm here to save you a bunch of time! The off-season is already predetermined, and your friend Vanimal found the transcript for the most DRAMATIC off-season yet...

10/9: Twins exercise Nelson Cruz...

Wondering what fans at Game Three thought of the nightclub atmosphere at the game last night. I thought having a DJ playing "sick beats" and loud, thumping bass for four hours was really grating... but I am an old soul.

Last season I really enjoyed my trip to Wrigley to see the Twins play. The PA guy wasn't shouting, the music wasn't blaring and the fan...

The Twins have stunk it up in the playoffs in real life, but would they do the same in Strat-O-Matic land? Let's find out!
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GAME SUMMARY
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The Twins got a double from Polanco in the first inning, and he moved to 3rd on an error that let Rosario reach, but they failed to knock any runs in. The Yankees had the same fate, as they left the bases loaded in t...

So the playoffs between the Yankees and the Twins is essentially over. And just as it has in years past, the winning team sported (has) the better pitching. The Twins did an amazing job this year on offense. They broke the MLB record for most home runs by a team for a single season, and improved their team's offensive statistics in just about every cat...