Twins Offseason Blueprints

I see that a few people have posted their own blueprints for the Twins' offseason, either on the forum or in a blog post, and that's great. But I thought it would create a thread where we can collect everyone's takes in one place and get a look at the various directions people think the club should go this winter.

Please feel free to post your suggested course for the Terry Ryan and the front office below, whether it's aimed at getting the team back to contention in 2013 or starting a more long-term rebuilding effort. Include any moves you'd make, your projected 25-man Opening Day roster and a projected payroll. If you have one, use your Offseason Handbook to identify free agents and trade targets, and fill in financial details.

1. Sign Mark DeRosa to a minor league contract.
2. Trade Rosario+another prospect or two to the Marlins for Josh Johnson, sign Johnson to a 4 year/ 75 mil extension.
3. Sign Kelly Johnson 2 years/11 mil
4. Sign Eric Chavez 1 year, 1.25 mil.
5. Sign Scott Baker 1 year, 3 mil base, up to 2.5 mil in incentives for IP
6. Trade Denard Span+ Hendriks+ C+ prospect to TB for James Shields.
7. Sign Liriano to a 1 year 4.2 mil deal

Rotation:
Shields
Johnson
Baker
Diamond
Gibson/Liriano

Roster:
C: Mauer
1B: Morneau
2B: Johnson
SS: Dozier/Carroll
3B: Plouffe Chavez as a back up
LF: Willingham
CF: Revere
RF:Parmelee
DH: Doumit

Bullpen:
CL: Perkins
SU: Burton
LOOGY: Duensing
MRP: Fien
MRP: Guerra
MRP: Liriano?

Transactions:

Trade CF Denard Span for SP Tommy Hanson.

Trade 1B Justin Morneau for RP Andrew Miller.

Trade RP Tyler Robertson for 2B/3B Ryan Roberts.

Sign Stephen Drew to a four year, $30 million contract.
Year 1: $5.5 million
Year 2: $7.5 million
Year 3: $8 million
Year 4: $9 million

Sign Shaun Marcum to a two year, $18 million contract. Includes a third year club option of $12 million with a $2 million buyout.

Sign Scott Baker to a one year, $3 million contract with up to $4 million in incentives. Includes a second year club option of $9 million.

Sign OF Melky Cabrera to a one year, $5 million contract with up to $3 million in incentives.

Sign SP/RP Carlos Villanueva to a one year, $4.5 million contract.

Sign RP Kyle Farnsworth to a one year, $2.25 million contract.

The Roster (with salaries):

Starting Lineup:
CF Ben Revere $500,000
RF Melky Cabrera $5,000,000
C Joe Mauer $23,000,000
LF Josh Willingham $7,000,000
DH Ryan Doumit $3,500,000
1B Chris Parmelee $500,000
3B Trevor Plouffe $500,000
SS Stephen Drew $5,500,000
2B Ryan Roberts $3,000,000

Bench:
IF Jamey Carroll $3,750,000
OF Darin Mastroianni $500,000
Backup C $500,000
Bench Bat $500,000

Rotation:
Tommy Hanson $4,000,000
Shaun Marcum $9,000,000
Scott Diamond $500,000
Scott Baker $3,000,000
Carlos Villanueva $4,500,000

Bullpen:
Glen Perkins $2,500,000
Jared Burton $2,000,000
Kyle Farnsworth $2,250,000
Andrew Miller $1,500,000
Casey Fien $500,000
Brian Duensing $1,250,000
Competition $500,000

$53,750,000 Position Players
$21,000,000 Starting Rotation
$10,500,000 Bullpen
$5,750,000 Blackburn & Capps
Up to $7,000,000 Incentives
$91-98,000,000 Total

I just wanted to add the thought process for my blueprint and give some explanations. First I want to say that even though I have names attached to the transactions, for the most part it's more about the approach I would take.

Let me start with the Denard Span trade. I, like Phil Mackey, feel that Denard to Atlanta makes a lot of sense. However, I feel that Hanson makes more sense than Minor. He's set to make $4 million in arbitration so it would be close to an even swap in dollars along with up to 3 years of control for each player. Another reason is, other than Medlen, the other 4 young pitchers they have are all pre arbitration, so it would make more sense for them to keep those guys for financial reasons.

I'll be honest, the Justin Morneau trade is a salary dump. I know! It hurts me too. However, I do think we can sneak in some value in a trade. Boston has a hole at first base and are seeking short term deals to avoid more bad contracts, while still being competitive. They are stacked with bullpen arms and Andrew Miller has some good upside. He failed as a starter but he's a lefty, was pretty successful in first season as a reliever, throws in the mid 90s and has a hard slider. Kind of remind you of someone?

Ryan Roberts is most likely to be non-tendered by the Rays so they get a young, cheap lefty reliever to replace J.P. Howell. Roberts projects to be a backup to Longoria and Zobrist and they can't afford to pay $3 million to a bench player. I like that he brings a little pop along with solid defense and decent on base skills. I also like his versatility as an insurance policy in case Plouffe struggles at 3B.

The Stephen Drew signing is my "crazy aggressive" move. He projects to receive a 1-2 year deal at around $8 million per. My 4 years are to ensure that he signs with the Twins. I'm sure my insatiable craving for a decent SS has something to do with it, but I think it's a good gamble. Late in the season, he seemed to be regaining his form from 2009-2011, and that's what I'm banking on. If that happens, he would be a steal. If not, it would blow up in my face. You have to take some risks if you want to win though right?

The Marcum and Baker deals are self explanatory. Both players have been discussed many a time, so I won't go into detail there.

Melky Cabrera? Sign with the Twins? Blasphemy! We all know he'll be seeking a one year deal to rebuild his value, so why not do it with the Twins? He won't have to deal with a high pressure media market and Target Field has plenty of room to slap around some hits. He also serves as a great bridge to Arcia or Hicks and could bring some value at the deadline.

Carlos Villanueva and Kyle Farnsworth pretty much fill out the pitching staff. Villanueva wants to prove himself as a starter and we have a spot for him. As for Farnsworth, I was looking to add a proven reliever to stabilize the pen, and he's the guy I chose. There are obviously similar guys out there, but I like him to have a bounce back year.

My goal offensively was to provide a more balanced lineup, while also keeping an average defense on the field. As for pitching, I wanted to bring in guys that could miss some bats! All 5 new pitchers have shown that they can pile up some punch outs, and we know Scott Baker can hold his own as well. The best part is that there would only be $54 million allocated to payroll going into next off season, so there would be some room to improve once again.

I had mine as a blog... here it is:


It's no secret as to where the Twins struggled last season. Starting pitching was by far the worst, but the Twins were left lacking up the middle as well as in the pen. The good news is that from a hitting standpoint, the Twins look fairly set going forward. Rochester's OF should consist of 3 decent prospects in Arcia, Hicks, and Benson (though Benson's stock has fallen a bit), and one of them should be ready if/when someone goes down or is traded. The higher minors are bereft of pitching talent and middle infield talent, though prospect Brian Dozier should get a chance to establish himself in Rochester next year. I for one am not as down on him as others, and a year in AAA will likely be beneficial to him. Fortunately for the Twins, there are options. In my plan, the Twins will make two trades this offseason. The first of which will be to deal Anthony Slama to the Angels for Dan Haren and 3M. While I personally think Slama deserves a shot, it seems clear that he isn't going to get one in Minnesota. The Angles took a similar type deal in letting go Santana, and they will take another one to for Haren as they will esentially get an RP arm for the cost of Haren's buyout, which they were going to pay anyways. The second will be to deal Denard Span and a PTBNL to the Reds for minor league pitcher Tony Cingrani.

They will not sit quitely in the FA market either. The Twins go ahead and sign Scott Baker to a 2 year deal with an option. He will receive 2M in 2013 and 6M in 2014 with a 10M option in 2015 or a 1M buyout. They also choose to bring on Erik Bedard on a 1 year 2M deal. Bedard was very good for Pittsburg before falling apart late summer. That was certainly in part due to being tired as he hasn't had huge workloads for several years now. His purpose is to hopefully last the year, but if not, he buys time for Gibson/Hendricks. Gibson will be shut down early in the spring so that he can finish the year with 130 innings. The Twins will also go heavily after Marcum, and they will get him after adding a 2nd year and an option to his contract. Marcum is signed for 2/16 with a 3rd year option.

They will opt for 1 year fixes in the middle infield. Both Kelly Johnson and Stephen Drew will be signed to 1 year deals to man the middle. This should provide better defense overall and a reasonable potential to help at the plate. Dozier will start in AAA where he belongs, and the Twins will be able to decide if he will man one of those spots in 2014. Terry Ryan said that the pen was his second priority, and as such he makes a few moves. Being out of options, Delios Gurerra will be given every opportunity to man a spot, and he will receive it whether or not it is deserved. But the Twins will also seek reinforcements who are capable of striking out batters. Jason Grilli will come over on a 2 yr/4M deal from Pittsburg. While he is 35, he is still quite capable of striking out batters. Staying with age, they will also sign Joel Peralta to a 1yr/3M deal. These pitchers will add some Ks to the back of the pen for reasonable prices.

Their bench will be strengthened by signing Jeff Keppinger to a 2yr/7M deal. Keppinger will rotate at the corners and occasional DH and essentially be their 10th starter/super utility guy.

Lineup:
C-Mauer - 23M
1B-Morneau - 14M
2B-Kelly Johnson - 2M
SS-Stephen Drew - 2M
3B - Plouffe - .5M
RF - Willingham - 7M
CF - Revere .5M
LF - Parmalee .5M
DH - Doumit 3.5M

Total: 53M

Pitching:
SP-Diamond - .5M
SP-Dan Haren - 12M (Angels cover 3M of his contract)
SP- Marcum - 8M
SP-Baker - 2M
SP-Bedard - 3M

RP-Swarzak - .5M
RP-D. Guererra - .5M
RP-Jason Grilli - 2M
RP-Joel Peralta - 3M
RP-Duensing - 1M
RP-Burton - 1M
CL-Perkins - 2.5M

Total: 40.5

Bench
U/MIF- Florimon - .5M
U/CIF- Jeff Keppinger - 3.5M
OF- Mastroianni - .5M
C- Chris Herrman - .5M

Total: 5M
Grand total: 98.5M

The end result is a swing for the fences type team. If everything breaks right, the Twins will find themselves in the thick of a penant race in 2013. Given that they are adding quite a few question marks, the likelihood of that is not as good as we'd like, but they have nice trade options to work with come the deadline should things not work out. Morneau will very likely be flipped for pitching help. The same can be said for Willingham, Johnson, Drew, or Peralta. With Arcia and Hicks in Rochester, one of these guys will likely be called up to replace Revere should he struggle. If Morneau or Willingham is traded, then one will be called up to move into the OF. Gibson and Hendricks will start in Rochester, but both will likely see time when the inevitable pitching injury strikes. This Twins team has much more depth as their minor league system should be able to provide a reasonable replacement for most roles.

I already posted my thoughts here
http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?2080...eason-Handbook

here is the recap
Resign Baker to 1 year $4 million with incentives and option year
Trade Span to ATL for Hanson basically a wash in salary commitment (in offseason handbook i agree with this one)
Sign Jackson to 4 year 53 million
Sign Hawkins $2.5 million (Other options available Capps and others )
Sign Inge $2 million
Sign Gomes $1.5 million
My math has us in the $94-$96 million ranges with this team.

I do not think the Twins will do muh to address the IF. the waiver pick yesterday and maybe a minor league free agent.
Lineup:
CF Revere
2b Carroll
C Mauer
LF Willingham
1B Morneau
DH Doumit
3B Plouffe
RF Parmelee
SS Florimon/ Dozier

Bench
3B -C-1B-2B Inge
OF-1B-DH-PH Gomes
OF- Pinch Runner Mastroianni
IF Dozier/ Florimon/ Escobar

SP
Jackson
Baker
Hanson
Diamond
Gibson with Hendicks/ DeVries/ and Dedunno ready to go if needed.

Bullpen
Perkins
Burton
Hawkins
Deunsing
Burnett
Swarzak
Robertson+ competition for last 1 or 2 spots

Anthony Slama for Dan Haren and 3 million bucks!!! I know Marmol is a joke, but he is better than Slama!

Obviously I am not copying a blueprint spanning 4 blog posts, but the general idea (I still somehow don't have the handbook yet, even though the order seemingly went through about a month ago) is to not trade anybody on the MLB roster (other than Swarzak for Bigfoot) until the deadline at the earliest (unless someone for another team gets injured early and need a CF or 1B/DH), rotate Span, Revere, Willingham, Mauer, Doumit, Morneau, and Parmelee in 6 different positions, sign Marcum, Baker, and Jackson (Blanton may be a more likely substitute for Jackson, but it's MY world here, not the Twins), and I would add now that given the likelihood that Chris Herrmann will be in Rochester, I would probably sign a Rod Barajas for a few million bucks.

Note, given that it isn't clear who is playing first base for Boston next year and David Ortiz is a walking injury, Justin Morneau might be very attractive for Boston at some point in the season. If Boston pursues FA pitchers, they may be willing to part with a top pitching prospect or two lower ones.

The goal is to build both MLB and MiLB starting pitching depth as well as add a solid MI'er and RP'er. The Twins have money to spend but this plan will avoid tying up any money long term. It would be great to suggest signing Greinke but just about every Twins fan knows that isn't going to happen. I'm also operating under the assumption that my second FA target (Sanchez) will be getting CJ Wilson money (5/75). Another assumption is that the Twins won't land 4 starters in FA. It's pretty optimistic that the Twins will get Haren, Baker and Villanueva while trading for Delgado in my plan below.

Target budget 95-100M
#1 - Sign Haren for 2/24 with a vesting option. He's a potential #1/2 if he comes back healthy. If he doesn't then he comes off the books relatively quickly. Backup plan = Marcum for the same contract. I don't really understand why everyone thinks Marcum is going to get a 1/6 contract. He finished the season healthy and he's been really effective.

#2 - Trade Span (grudgingly) - Target Shields, Hanson, Minor, Delgado, Cingrani, Corcino. You should be able to make something work with one of those 3 teams and get back a pretty good MLB/MiLB pitcher. I'll proceed with getting Delgado back in the plan below.

#3 - Sign Baker to a 1/5M contract with 2 team options. I think this is going to happen and the important thing is not to get Baker cheaply this year but to lock him in for 2 additional seasons and give the team some stability.

#4 - Look into the Villanueva/Feldman tier of pitchers as backups plans in case any of the above fall through although you could just sign one of these guys and use them as a swingman. Let's put Villanueva down for 2/7M.

#5 - MI - Try to get Stephen Drew on a 2/11 contract with one team option. Maybe he returns to being an above average regular and if he doesn't it's not a long term contract. I'll assume that Scutaro will get overpaid this winter and list Yunel Escobar as a backup plan. He might be a jerk but he has a 1/5 contract with two team options.

#6 - RP - Matt Lindstrom 2/7 - Pretty effective guy to add to the 7th/8th inning mix and give the Twins some solid depth.

#7 - Try to dump Carroll if you can find any takers

#8 - Start bringing up guys like Gibson, Hicks/Arcia in June/July



Lineup:
C-Mauer - 23M
1B-Morneau - 14M
2B- Dozier/Floriman - 500K - the other will be in Roch
SS-Stephen Drew - 5M
3B - Plouffe - .5M
RF - Willingham - 7M
CF - Revere .5M
LF - Parmalee .5M
DH - Doumit 3.5M

Total: 54.5M

Pitching:
SP-Diamond - .5M
SP-Dan Haren - 12M
SP- Baker - 5M
SP- Villanueva - 3.5M
SP- Delgado - 500K

Total: 21M

RP- competition - 500K
RP- competition - 500K
RP- Fien - 500K
RP- Lindstrom - 3.5M
RP-Duensing - 1M
RP-Burton - 1M
CL-Perkins - 2.5M

Total: 9.5

Bench
U/MIF- Carroll - 3.75M
bench bat - possibly a guy like Chavez or someone else that can hit - 1M
OF- Mastroianni - .5M
C- Chris Herrman - .5M

Capps buyout - .25M

Total: 6M

Grand total: 91.5M

I still have some money to spend so perhaps I'll add a player or two. This also gives me some extra room in case any of the contracts are more than expected.

Some of you guys are playing RBI Baseball lol. Its all in fun, so I'm not hating. Mine is much smaller.

1. Sign Baker. Make the contract work for both sides and move on.
2. Sign Haren. My goal would be 3-35 with an option, he'll be looking for 4 but will have to compromise I think.
3. Upgrade the infield. I'd look at Drew, Keppinger first. The market is thin so not sure if anything will make sense.
4. Try to trade Span. I'm not sure what value he will have, but he should bring back some decent value.
5. Take some fliers on guys with high upside (like Fien).
6. Start Gibson and Baker with the Twins. This gives the Twins at least a chance to hang around until these two get back to form. If they throw scrubs out there for 2 months the season will be over again.... **** that. Baker is a vet and Gibson threw enough this season to be ready for next.

1. Sign Shaun Marcum for 3 years/40 million (+13)
2. Trade Denard Span for Something Cool (-4.75)
3. Sign Kevin Youkilis 2 years/15 Million (+7.5)
4. Sign Erik Bedard 1/3 Million (+3)
5. Sign Rich Harden to incentives based deal (+4)
6. Sign Scott Baker to incentives based deal (+4)

Overall adding an estimated 26 3/4 million to the salary cap. I was somewhat generous with some of the salaries too. Because more or less, I expect that the Twins would have to overpay a little to have a chance at getting Youk, Marcum, and other FAs. I want to see a payroll in the 100-105 range since I think this is Joe Mauer's time and we have to get him a good team. I'm clearly in a win now mode. Depending upon how the 4 starting pitchers signed fare, one may be traded for middle infield or big power help if Gibson is knocking at the door at the deadline. They could be traded for prospects too if our record isn't good once again. I really value depth at starting pitching and it's obvious why. Morneau could also be traded at the deadline if we are failing to win in this situation for prospects. Hicks and Arcia brought in at their own pace by the way. Youkilis and Bedard have had really incredible careers, but have failed in 2012. These two are high risk, high reward players who have both played in the AL and can rebound here. I'd really like to try Plouffe at 2B again. Youk could also DH on occasion with Plouffe shifting back to third. Kevin is also right handed and might flourish in the way Willingham has. Quite a bit of versatility at the DH and in the infield. There is a ton of power and I LOVE IT!!! It will be even better if the aforementioned Hicks and Arcia can replace Revere in the everyday lineup and force Escobar off the 25 man.

Note: The only free agent signed that might cost a draft pick would be Marcum if I'm correct. I'd say he's worth it.

Ideal Lineup:
Ben Revere CF
Joe Mauer C
Josh Willingham LF
Justin Morneau 1B
Kevin Youkilis 3B
Ryan Doumit DH
Chris Parmelee RF
Trevahhh Plouffe 2B
Jamey Carroll SS

BE Florimon
BE Mastroianni
BE Escobar
BE Herrmann

SP Marcum
SP Diamond
SP Bedard
SP Harden
SP Baker

(In the wings) Kyle Gibson, Liam Hendriks, and Samuel Deduno

RP Duensing
RP Fien
RP Burton
RP Burnett*
RP Swarzak
RP Robertson
RP Perkins

Note*: I favor both Oliveros and Devries over Burnett, but am unsure if he'd pass waivers until he inevitably sucks.

(In the wings) Lester Oliveros, Pedro Hernandez, and Cole Devries

Addition! I really wanted to do this.
Estimated Dingers: 0 (BR11), 10 (JM7), 30 (JW), 25 (JM33), 20 (KY), 15 (RD18), 20 (CP27), 15 (TP24), 1 (JC8), 2 (DM19), 3 (PFJ25), 6 (CH23), 0 (EE5), 5 (Hicks/Arcia)

Totaling...152HRs
That puts the Twins at 18th by 2012 standards. Above the Braves at 149 and up from the 26th we actually saw.

my off season blue print....fire the 3 stooges,ok that aint happening , and unless ryan makes a splash landing a #1 or a #2 then no ones coming here unless there in witness protection program or over paid ...so its time to tear it down ..and maybe a few non roster invites with a st invite , say scott kazmir, brandon webb, jose veras and im sure there s a few more out there , liike brandon woods, as for targets i like a pair of pitchers out of pittsburg, cole and taillon , reds have cingriani and the speed freak hamilton, texas has some infield depth with profar and olt in waiting, also offering oswalty a decent incentive ladden contract to use as fodder come june or july might also pan out...basically with no splash or momentium , twins will find it hard to draw decent free agents so lets tear it down and rebuild including the no trade clause smokin joe camel

1) Revere and Herrmann to Atlanta for Tommy Hanson.
2) Sign Chris Young to a two year 14 million deal, with a vesting option.
3) Resign Scott Baker to a one year 6 million deal, with a vesting/team option.
4) Sign Kelly Johnson to a two year 12 million dollar deal.
5) Sign Mike Pelfry, Joey Devine, Randy Messenger, Casey McGehee and others to >2mil or minor league contracts.

Rotation
1) Hanson - 4.5?
2) Young - 7
3) Baker - 6
4) Diamond - .5
5) Pelfry/Blackburn/Gibson/Hendricks -.5

Bullpen
CL - Perkins - 2.5
SU - Burton - 1
SU - Duesing - 1
RP - Devine - 1
RP - Fien - .5
RP - Guerra - .5
RP - Burnett - .5
RP - **** loads of minor league arms

Lineup
CF - Span - 4.5
C - Mauer - 23
LF - Willingham - 7
1B - Morneau - 14
2B - Johnson - 6
DH - Doumit - 3
3B - Plouffe - .5
RF - Parmelee - .5
SS - Florimon/Dozier - .5

Bench
OF - Mastroianni - .5
IF - Escobar - .5
IF - Carroll - 3.75
C - Drew - .5

~90 million

No.1 signing Greinke to a 6 year deal,the only 20 game winner option out there. Why sign a 500 or less pitcher, it does not help theTwins future at all. Then build around your ace. Trading doesn't help, you just give up more than you get back and sets the team back farther.

Quote:

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2) Sign Chris Young to a two year 14 million deal, with a vesting option.

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Yikes!

Don't trade Morneau, Span, Willingham or anyone else. Sign Marcum and Haren. Twins win! Twins win!

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Originally Posted by kab21

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2) Sign Chris Young to a two year 14 million deal, with a vesting option.

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Yikes!

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I was trying to be realistic. The Twins would totally make a deal like this.

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Originally Posted by Top Gun

No.1 signing Greinke to a 6 year deal,the only 20 game winner option out there. Why sign a 500 or less pitcher, it does not help theTwins future at all. Then build around your ace. Trading doesn't help, you just give up more than you get back and sets the team back farther.

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I think Haren is a good option to Greinke. The Angels are going to overpay him so I'm going for the next best guy.

personally i dont think straddeling the fence like the twins do is the answer , it olny gives you a case of blue balls, why spend 100 million to be the 2nd worst team in the american leaque(hustons coming)so either kick up payroll 33%or or cut it downs to about 50 and start rebuilding,
id trade ham for a couple of pitching prospects then replace some of his power by letting the angels pay us to let wells play her for the next 2 years , basically ushering in our next crop of outfielders,then id trade mauer and morneau to texas for profar or elvis and olt then trade span,florimon,hernandez and hermsen to the reds for cingriani and hamilton,id also look into offering 4 pitchers invites to s.t as non roster invitees brandon webb, scott kazmir, jaokim soria, and jose veras, hoping to find 1 or 2 of them can step back into there old selfs and become july trade bait to help restoke a very sad upper minor leaque

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Originally Posted by PseudoSABR

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Originally Posted by kab21

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2) Sign Chris Young to a two year 14 million deal, with a vesting option.

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Yikes!

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I was trying to be realistic. The Twins would totally make a deal like this.

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Christopher Ryan Young or Christopher Brandon Young?