DieHard's plan

[diehardtwinsfan]

I’m a bit late to the party. The Twins have already made 3 moves, so I’ll simply tailor my plan moving forward from that point.  What I see right now is a short term hole in the OF.   There’s one starter penciled in with Rosario, and I wouldn’t exactly count on him as a sure thing.  In the high minors, Rochester will be fielding an OF of Buxton, Kepler, and Walker.   I fully expect one of those guys to be banging the door down by May and quite possibly 2 or 3 by the end of the season.   Injuries will certainly allow any of them to be on the Rochester shuttle to Minneapolis, and given that all are on the 40 man, I half expect to see that as time progresses.   I’m going to go with the assumption that Arcia will be starting in RF at the beginning of the year, not because he deserves it, but because he’s out of options.   I’d rather him be at DH, but with Park around, I really don’t see that happening, especially with Mauer at 1B.   I do think that Mauer is going to see his reps dropped, even with a Plouffe trade, there’s a bit of a glut of corner position guys, so if Mauer’s slide continues (though he’ll get every opportunity to bounce back), I somewhat expect to see his role start to diminish in 2016. 

 

On the other side, the Twins seem to have a bit of a glut of back end rotation guys/guys under contract clogging up the rotation.   This is going to cause problems for guys like May and Duffey who have certainly earned the right to start, but are blocked.   Hughes isn’t going anywhere, neither is Santana or Gibson.   That leaves 2 spots.   My plan would be to alleviate some of the competition here, as it has value to other teams and it’s blocking key cogs.   My plan as follows.

 

1.  Trade Nolasco for anything.   I really don’t care what we get or how much needs to be eaten.  This is a sunk cost.   Not that I have inside info here, but I don’t get the impression that he likes it here either.   He’s basically what Carl Pavano was to the Yankees a few years ago.   If someone will give a bag of balls for Nolasco and 50% of his remaining contract, I’d jump on it.  If not, my plan for him would be to be in the pen where I do think his stuff will likely play a bit better, but given the rotation options, he’s not in it at this point.   Melvin Upton in SD might be a good target here as he can play CF and could shift to a corner once Buxton is ready.    I’m guessing he will cost more than Nolasco though, so either there’s money included or another prospect to balance it out.
2. Trade Tommy Millone – There are always teams in need of pitching, and while Milone is hardly a top target, he’s a reliable back end target that can shore up a weak rotation, and could very likely be a fall back plan for teams that miss out on their guy or who don’t want to pay the price for Sonny Gray.   There are lots of fits, and Millone wouldn’t be that expensive.   As a guess, I’ll go with the Texas Rangers.   They won 88 games despite bad pitching, and they are potentially losing two starting cogs in Lewis and Gallarado to free agency this offseason.  Millone won’t cost them a lot.   My first try would be to the rangers for Ryan Cordell, who had a pretty decent season in A+ ball but struggled in AA.   He’s not a rule V risk for a bit yet, and he plays multiple positions with a bat that could be decent.  My main requirement would be to free up additional 40 man spots given some of the prospects in the high minors that will require them. 
3. Trade Trevor Plouffe – With the acquisition of a catcher already in the books, trading Plouffe for catching help doesn’t strike me as something that will be happening (or that honestly needs to happen).   At this point, I’d trade him for a prospect. 
4. Sign Darren O’Day to a 3 year 16M deal.   There’s a bit of a risk here.   He’s 32, which is not a great age for relievers.  He’s been pretty good though striking out more than a batter an inning, limiting walks and home runs, while maintaining a sub 2 ERA.   That should add one more solid arm to the pen, and when guys like Burdi are ready, he can be used to mentor them as well as move to a more suitable role if his skills are starting to dry up.
5. Trade J.T. Chargois or Zach Jones to Washington for Drew Storen.   This is contingent on Storen being willing to be a setup man for Perkins, though I’d be clear that he’s first in line if Perk is hurt again or simply loses it.  It’s a high price to play for 2 years of Storen, as Chargois could potentially be the same type of reliever for 6-7 years for the Nationals, but Chargois doesn’t come without his own set of risks, so I think it would be a fair offer.    I’d listen on that 2nd round pick too if that’s what the Nats wanted.
6. Float Kyle Gibson.   I’d float him, but honestly, I’m expecting to be a bit underwhelmed here, and he would remain a Twin for 2016.  I think he can improve, so I wouldn’t necessarily give him away, but with the starting pitching already on the team,  I'd definitely see if someone would be willing to give up value for Gibson.   There would need to be a very good prospect headlining the deal. 
7. Sign a couple more relievers to minor league contracts – This is more of a throw it at the wall and see what sticks.  I’d get a couple of guys to minor league deals and see what sticks.
8. If Melvin Upton isn’t an option, I’d target an OF on a 1 year make good deal that could do CF temporarily. 

My team:
C – Suzuki/Murphy
1B – Mauer/Park
2B – Dozier
SS – Escobar
3B – Sano
LF – Rosario
CF – Upton/FA (eventually Buxton)
RF – Arcia
DH – Park/Pinto/Arcia
BN – Pinto, Santana (as an OF), Nunez, Murphy
SP – Hughes, Santana, Gibson, May, Duffey
RP – Perkins, Storen, O’Day, Jepsen, Tonkin, Fein (though this spot is not guaranteed), O’Rourke/Chargois/potential RP pickup