Winter Meetings: Monday Thread

[James]

 

Also signals the Reds are definitely in sell mode, so Todd Frazier will probably dampen any Plouffe market.

True.  That is if they decide to trade him now, or wait until the July deadline.  They have that luxury.  Also, there may be a team that wants to upgrade at 3rd without giving up as much as what might be needed to get Frazier.  

[Giles Ferrell]

Love the Winter Meetings. My refresh button gets quite the workout during this week.

 

Soria to the Royals?

Lowe and K-Rod to the Tigers?

 

Twins are falling behind on the bullpen chase in the central.  

I heard Matt Capps is making a comeback...

(kidding)

[James]

 

I agree 100%, Iwakuma is a steal for them and I would have loved to see the Twins take a run at him if he was truly on the "open" market. He instantly would have become the Twins best pitcher.

 

However, as it does "replace" Greinke in the rotation, I think the downgrade is pretty significant, Grienke was the definition of elite last year.

I agree.  Grienke's season last year was amazing.  He's one of the best, but he might even have a hard time duplicating what he did last year.  

 

I agree with you about the Twins making a run at Iwakuma.  I would have loved that move, but too late now.

[Seth Stohs]

Trevor Cahill staying with the Cubs,, per several reports.

[Seth Stohs]

 

Soria to the Royals?

Lowe and K-Rod to the Tigers?

 

Twins are falling behind on the bullpen chase in the central.  

 

I enjoy stuff like this because I used to always think like this. First, there are lots of bullpen arms out there if they want to spend money. Also, the Royals lost Greg Holland and Ryan Madson. 

 

Also, the Twins have guys like Burdi, Chargois, Rogers, Meyer, Reed coming soon and Michael Tonkin is out of options. I think Trevor May will likely be pushed to the bullpen, so it's not like the Twins are far away from having a potentially dominant bullpen, guys to go with Perkins and Jepsen. 

[sane09]

Iwakuma isn't exactly a slouch though.

“Don’t sell yourself short Judge, you’re a tremendous slouch.”— Ty Webb..Caddyshack

[mazeville]

On the bullpen, I'd rather the Twins focus on promoting some of their minor league power arms, rather than go out and spend big bucks or big prospects on a trade. Get someone like Clippard, perhaps, but I think they have enough power in the minors to put together a potentially strong bullpen. 

 

Maybe I'm naive there. But there are enough strong prospects in the list Seth just mentioned to fill out a bullpen.

 

That said, they could get some pen help with a Plouffe trade ...

[DaveW]

 

 

 

Also, the Twins have guys like Burdi, Chargois, Rogers, Meyer, Reed coming soon and Michael Tonkin is out of options. I think Trevor May will likely be pushed to the bullpen, so it's not like the Twins are far away from having a potentially dominant bullpen, guys to go with Perkins and Jepsen. 

I get this line of thinking, but other than Perkins (and now May-ugh) who have they brought up through their own ranks who have been "dominant" relief pitchers in the last decade or so?

 

While I understand and am excited to see some of those guys get a chance, I don't think its out of the realm to hope/wish/pray that the Twins would sign just one more proven back end relief pitcher type. So far they have two in Jepsen and Perkins, and Perkins has a whole lot of question marks currently. After that you have May, who should be a starter and then a bunch of question marks or mediocrity (Fien, Tonkin, Boyer etc)

[DaveW]

 

 

On the bullpen, I'd rather the Twins focus on promoting some of their minor league power arms, rather than go out and spend big bucks or big prospects on a trade. Get someone like Clippard, perhaps, but I think they have enough power in the minors to put together a potentially strong bullpen. 

 

Maybe I'm naive there. But there are enough strong prospects in the list Seth just mentioned to fill out a bullpen.

 

That said, they could get some pen help with a Plouffe trade ...

I think it's always a somewhat foolish idea to count on non elite rookies/prospects to instantly "fill in" anywhere, heck, as we have seen more often then not its foolhardy to count on elite prospects to instantly fill in.

 

 

[Seth Stohs]

 

I get this line of thinking, but other than Perkins (and now May-ugh) who have they brought up through their own ranks who have been "dominant" relief pitchers in the last decade or so?

 

While I understand and am excited to see some of those guys get a chance, I don't think its out of the realm to hope/wish/pray that the Twins would sign just one more proven back end relief pitcher type. So far they have two in Jepsen and Perkins, and Perkins has a whole lot of question marks currently. After that you have May, who should be a starter and then a bunch of question marks or mediocrity (Fien, Tonkin, Boyer etc)

 

100% agree that there is no guarantee on any pitcher or even the top, hard-throwing reliever prospects.  My main point of that they may really only need one more reliever, and there are plenty out there that they could get that it's not worth worrying about too much yet.

[Willihammer]

On a scale of 1-10 how nuts would it be for the Twins to trade for Frazier so as to corner the 3B market?

[Seth Stohs]

 

I think it's always a somewhat foolish idea to count on non elite rookies/prospects to instantly "fill in" anywhere, heck, as we have seen more often then not its foolhardy to count on elite prospects to instantly fill in.

 

Correct, plus none of them will (most likely) open thehe season with them anyway. At earliest it'd be mid-season (maybe Meyer, and possibly Burdi/Chargois by mid-May), and we don't want the bullpen to be such a mess in the first half and cough up too many late-inning leads that you have to push one of two of those guys to the big leagues too quickly.

[Baseball Bat]

Have heard a rumor about every team besides the Twins..... Classic

[Baseball Bat]

 

We need to get in on the Sipp, Bastardo, and Clippard sweepstakes immediately, and please god not Fernando Rodney.

If we sign Fernando Rodney and not one of the three previously mentioned then I'm moving to Detroit.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Have heard a rumor about every team besides the Twins..... Classic

Loose lips sink ships?

[Mike Sixel]

 

Have heard a rumor about every team besides the Twins..... Classic

 

I don't really care about the rumors......I do care if they improve the team. We'll see over the next couple months what happens. 

 

As for the RP discussion above......they haven't developed starters or RP recently. Last year their plan was 4 of 5 starters being FAs......and much of the bullpen. Hopefully that changes this year, but if I was the GM, I'd go get AT LEAST one more RP that I thought was awesome.

[jlanky]

 

Correct, plus none of them will (most likely) open thehe season with them anyway. At earliest it'd be mid-season (maybe Meyer, and possibly Burdi/Chargois by mid-May), and we don't want the bullpen to be such a mess in the first half and cough up too many late-inning leads that you have to push one of two of those guys to the big leagues too quickly.

 

I think with the latest rumor that Sipp is looking for 3 years at no less than $5 mil a year takes him out of the running for the Twins.  I am mostly concerned with having another ML-ready lefty.  I would have to guess that the Twins will settle for resigning Cotts to a 1 year deal (if he can't get more years).  I was surprised at the earlier rumor that the Twins were not interested in Thorton (yet another short term stop-gap option).

[Baseball Bat]

 

I don't really care about the rumors......I do care if they improve the team. We'll see over the next couple months what happens. 

 

As for the RP discussion above......they haven't developed starters or RP recently. Last year their plan was 4 of 5 starters being FAs......and much of the bullpen. Hopefully that changes this year, but if I was the GM, I'd go get AT LEAST one more RP that I thought was awesome.

I don't necessarily care about rumors either, it just seems like classic Twins.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I don't want Ryan to sign a Stauffer type this winter, as in past winters. I think Burdi and Meyer are close enough to be considered for Opening Day, though I understand if Burdi starts in AA or AAA. But honestly, Burdi was dominant the end of last season. He should be the first callup next season, imo.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I am fine starting the season with O'Rourke being the loogy and Perkins being the back end lefty but not exclusively the closer (which is how I think Molitor will use him, going forward).

[USAFChief]

 

100% agree that there is no guarantee on any pitcher or even the top, hard-throwing reliever prospects.  My main point of that they may really only need one more reliever, and there are plenty out there that they could get that it's not worth worrying about too much yet.

"Get a reliever" isn't the goal.

 

"Get a reliever who is an asset to a team trying to contend" is the goal.

 

"Get a reliever" is what they've tended to do in the past, which is one reason they're always needing to "get a reliever."

[DaveW]

 

Have heard a rumor about every team besides the Twins..... Classic

I get annoyed as anyone about the Twins lack of action, but it should be noted the Twins never are mentioned in "rumors" most of their bigger signings come out of left field. They do a good job keeping things in house for the most part.

[DaveW]

 

100% agree that there is no guarantee on any pitcher or even the top, hard-throwing reliever prospects.  My main point of that they may really only need one more reliever, and there are plenty out there that they could get that it's not worth worrying about too much yet.

Plenty of relievers, yes. But the number of guys who are shut down or potential shut down 7th/8th inning types is growing shorter by the hour seemingly. That is who I think most fans want the Twins to go after, a Clippard, Storen (trade) etc type, not just a "lets see who is left in a couple months, Stauffer, Boyer signing type"

[DaveW]

 

I am fine starting the season with O'Rourke being the loogy and Perkins being the back end lefty but not exclusively the closer (which is how I think Molitor will use him, going forward).

The problem is Perkins isn't that great against LHP, he can get ANYBODY out, so he shouldn't be limited to only facing LHB etc.

[DaveW]

 

Correct, plus none of them will (most likely) open thehe season with them anyway. At earliest it'd be mid-season (maybe Meyer, and possibly Burdi/Chargois by mid-May), and we don't want the bullpen to be such a mess in the first half and cough up too many late-inning leads that you have to push one of two of those guys to the big leagues too quickly.

Agreed 100%, I think its OK to keep one bullpen spot open for one of those guys to potentially earn out of spring training, if none step up, then you go out and sign a Boyer/Stauffer type to me your 7th man out of the pen. I'd just like the closer, 2 shut down set up guys set prior, the Twins have the closer and one shut down guy in Perkins and Jepsen, one more shut down guy is needed IMO.

[J_Dobs]

 

"Get a reliever" isn't the goal.

 

"Get a reliever who is an asset to a team trying to contend" is the goal.

 

"Get a reliever" is what they've tended to do in the past, which is one reason they're always needing to "get a reliever."

 

I have to agree with this. I keep going back to the interview/quotes from the end of the season on how the front office noticed how well a lock-down bullpens preformed so well for teams in the postseason. But if your not willing to spend money on getting someone how are you going to get this? How is 3 year 15 Million for Sipp expensive, compared to the deals already signed in this offseason? I get that we have possible bullpen prospects, but most of us felt Burdi was going to be ready last year and instead of doing so, he took a step backwards.

[Baseball Bat]

 

I get annoyed as anyone about the Twins lack of action, but it should be noted the Twins never are mentioned in "rumors" most of their bigger signings come out of left field. They do a good job keeping things in house for the most part.

This was not meant in a serious fashion, more for my own entertainment. I agree that the Twins have done a good job overall, but as a fan I find it interesting how they remain so type lipped when Ken Rosenthal and Jon Heyman find everything out. 

[Thegrin]

!)  About the Twins being closed mouthed about signings and trades, it is frustrating. But that is why we read Twins Daily >>> to speculate & rant.

 

2) With Iwakuma out of the league, the Mariners are a much easier team to beat.

 

3) With so many of the Twins minor League players on the cusp of being Major League ready, why would the Twins invest heavily on a reliever ?  but I wish the Twins had gotten Chapman anyway 

 

4) On MLB network, Terry Ryan just said that "perhaps the Twins brought Buxton up a "tad" early. " 

[DaveW]

 

!)  About the Twins being closed mouthed about signings and trades, it is frustrating. But that is why we read Twins Daily >>> to speculate & rant.

 

2) With Iwakuma out of the league, the Mariners are a much easier team to beat.

 

3) With so many of the Twins minor League players on the cusp of being Major League ready, why would the Twins invest heavily on a reliever ?  but I wish the Twins had gotten Chapman anyway 

 

4) On MLB network, Terry Ryan just said that "perhaps the Twins brought Buxton up a "tad" early. " 

The Mariners were never a real threat to the Twins to begin with IMO

You need 6-7 guys in a pen, as of now the Twins have 3 good arms (May-Who should be a starter anyways, Jepsen, and Perkins) even if some of the rookies step up there is still plenty of room for another shut down guy.

[Mike Sixel]

 

!)  About the Twins being closed mouthed about signings and trades, it is frustrating. But that is why we read Twins Daily >>> to speculate & rant.

 

2) With Iwakuma out of the league, the Mariners are a much easier team to beat.

 

3) With so many of the Twins minor League players on the cusp of being Major League ready, why would the Twins invest heavily on a reliever ?  but I wish the Twins had gotten Chapman anyway 

 

4) On MLB network, Terry Ryan just said that "perhaps the Twins brought Buxton up a "tad" early. " 

 

1. Meh

2. It's good to have AL teams get worse.

3. Because they need 2-4 RPs, not 1-2, and their track record at developing RP is awful

4. Ya think?