Twins Tender Contracts to All Six Arb-Eligibles

[Brock Beauchamp]

I agree, I don't want him on the roster.  I am often critical of the front office, but I'd still guess that he'd be among the first head on the chopping block should the Twins need to clear more 40-man space.

Yeah, I'm not really critical of this move so much as "what the hell is the point?" In the end, it probably won't matter a bit because Nunez either doesn't make it out of ST or he doesn't make it out of May. I don't see him lasting long on the 2015 roster.

[ashbury]

I'd still guess that he'd be among the first head on the chopping block should the Twins need to clear more 40-man space.

Though, with Aaron Thompson, Chris Colabello, and Chris Parmelee on the 40-man, they have a wealth of choices, don't they?

[Seth Stohs]

Why discard any assets until you are not forced to do so?   Make a move later as the team's needs become better defined.  This was a no brainer.  What's the worst that could happen by keeping them under contract for now?

 

Absolutely correct. I like Darnell to be an eventual replacement for Duensing, but he's never pitched in that role. Keep Duensing around for a fair wage, and if Darnell is in AAA pitching well in that role, you can deal Duensing for something. 

 

Nunez was the one I was most on the fence about, but even that isn't terrible. He does provide position flexibility, even if not great. There are other guys on the 40 man that can still be removed with less position flexibility if the Twins want to sign some free agents or make a Rule 5 pick. 

[Mike Sixel]

"you can deal Duensing for something"....are we sure?

 

When does the team start using the minor league system for RP? When do they realize they have burned out their bullpen the last few years, and need more flexibility there?

[savvyspy]

I guess I must have misunderstood your post.  I thought you were arguing that people ok with the move thought the Twins must be this close to the world series.

 

Of the six, Nunez is the closest to "mediocre" but they have other people on the 40 man roster that I'd rather they got rid of than just letting these six guys walk.  (Colabello, Herrmann, Parmelee)  So i don't see any huge downside of keeping these guys at this point.

What's stopping them from ridding the team of the roster filler (Colabello, Hermann, Fryer) AND not tendering players like Nunez and Duensing??

 

I think my favorite part of this discussion is someone rationalized the Nunez decision by saying he plays 5 positions. Nunez only plays 5 positions because the Twins are the only team dumb enough to play utility infielders in the outfield. We heard the same thing about Bartlett last year. He plays a lot of positions!! Ummm, no he doesn't. He plays one position and has his entire career until the Twins parked him in the outfield with predictable disastrous results.

[WLFINN]

Don't they need to keep Nunez so they have something to show for that stud they traded to get him???

[gunnarthor]

What's stopping them from ridding the team of the roster filler (Colabello, Hermann, Fryer) AND not tendering players like Nunez and Duensing??

 

I think my favorite part of this discussion is someone rationalized the Nunez decision by saying he plays 5 positions. Nunez only plays 5 positions because the Twins are the only team dumb enough to play utility infielders in the outfield. We heard the same thing about Bartlett last year. He plays a lot of positions!! Ummm, no he doesn't. He plays one position and has his entire career until the Twins parked him in the outfield with predictable disastrous results.

Here's a couple rational reasons to keep Nunez

1) Twins might trade Plouffe, which opens third for Escobar and Nunez is the UI.  

2) Who wants to get rid of UI that has a higher slg% than your starting first baseman?  (admittedly, a cheap shot).

3) Nunez is a good enough type of guy to have a 40 man spot.  With his arb picked up, it's more likely that they could slip him through waivers and stash him in AAA for when they needed him b/c other teams are less likely to pick up waiver claims over the minimum.  That makes Nunez the replacement for Berneir.

 

As to your other question, I don't believe anything would prevent a team from only having 35 players on its 40 man roster although the MLBPA would certainly raise a fuss.

[maxisagod]

But if Santana is truly moving back to short, there just isn't room on the roster for a middle infielder who can't field or hit. Nunez is a butcher in the field so he's not a late inning guy. He doesn't hit enough to play a corner spot. Escobar is a better player in every respect.

 

Oh, He's not a regular starter, we know that. If he was a great fielder, the Yankees never would have traded him.  But  guys who do have a future in a starting role don't get wasted on the bench. He's a pinch hitter, just enough power to make the pitchers honest,  he's a guy who can play in the infield when guys are nursing small injuries, and he will hit more than the Matt Tolberts ever will. A infielder who can hit has some value off the bench. How much value? Well probably not 2 million dollars worth of value. . But The Twins have their number and I don't think it too far off what the market would give him. 

[nicksaviking]

Don't they need to keep Nunez so they have something to show for that stud they traded to get him???

 

Fruit from the Drew Butera trade tree.

 

Edit: No, that's not quite correct.  Butera was half of the return for Luis Castillo who in turn was the result of a trade for Travis Bowyer and Scott Tyler.

[DaveW]

Meh, hard to get real worked up over Nunez. He is a super util guy and dirt cheap, can always be cut for next to nothing.

 

It's not like the twins aren't still twenty plus million under budget.

[LaBombo]

Meh, hard to get real worked up over Nunez. He is a super util guy and dirt cheap, can always be cut for next to nothing.

 

It's not like the twins aren't still twenty plus million under budget.

I'm with the consensus that Duensing and Nunez are the questionable ones, but they're of little consequence now that the Twins have publicly announced with the Hunter signing that they have no intention of either contending or even of being taken seriously as a professional sports franchise under the existing front office regime.

[Rosterman]

Aren't you pretty well stuck with keeping these guys, now, on a roster spot until after arbitration, which you then also have to biie the bullet and eat the contract if you end up releasing them, compared to now just non-tendering them and signing them back for whatever?

 

It means the Twins flexibility are names like Fryer, Colabello, Herrmann, and assorted pitchers like Darnell and Thompson.

 

Swarzak was still pretty cheap.

 

Of course, you CAN trade any of the tenders.

[clone52]

They think they have the pieces in place and make no further moves to improve the team? They add Hunter to last years 90 loss team and think that's good enough?

 

It might be.  If Nolasco bounces back like I think he will.  If May progresses in year 2 like Gibson did.  If Meyer has a  good rookie season, the Twins could be pretty darn good.

 

Longer shots are if Buxton/Sano/Rosaria come up ready to go, they could be even better.

Look at this opening day lineup:

Santana

Dozier

Mauer

Vargas

Arcia

Hunter

Plouffe

Suzuki

Schafer/Hicks

 

Offensively, that would be a heck of a lineup.

 

If guys like Buxton/Sano/Rosario are ready, they have a lot of of trade chips.  Arcia, Vargas, Dozier and Plouffe could all be used to bring back something valuable without hurting the offense too much.

 

If the stars align and Buxton could come up and man CF somewhat early, trading Arcia or Vargas could get a very nice addition to the roster and improve the defense without overly hurting the offense.

[Linus]

I agree, I don't want him on the roster. I am often critical of the front office, but I'd still guess that he'd be among the first head on the chopping block should the Twins need to clear more 40-man space.

That would be Colabello