2016 FORMER TWINS IN MAJORS TEAM

[ThejacKmp]

 

This is correct.  they were going to lose him.  They got something of value from the WhiteSox in exchange.

 

I guess I was referring to the next offseason when he was a free agent. They made him a similar offer to the one the Pirates made and he chose the Pirates.

[Fireflyfan]

While I don't think he ever spent time with the big club but Steve Pearce, currently on Tampa Bay's roster, did spend a part of spring training with the Twins in 2012.

[Lee-The-Twins-Fan]

 

So a team of former Twins would be as follows:

 

Lineup
LF Span
RF Hicks
CF Gomez
DH Ortiz
SS JJ Hardy
1B Morales
3B Valencia
C Ramos
2B Casilla

 

Not a bad lineup though Casilla at 2B is a bit rough.

 

Bench
AJ C
Revere OF
Colabello 1B/OF
Florimon MI

 

Again, weak in the middle infield and 3B – JJ Hardy going down would be disastrous for this team. But decent depth for any injuries in the OF, catching or at DH/1B.

 

Starters
Liriano
Dickey
Garza
Pelfrey
Worley

 

Liriano is nice at the top but after that it’s pretty shoddy. And in the case of injury, yick. PJ Walters to the rescue!

 

Pen
Hendricks
Neshek
Manship
Boyer
Nathan
Oliveros
Cotts

 

The pen would be a major issue. Picking names for the back end was brutal and Nathan being an early choice is not ideal.

-------------------------

Overall, this is maybe the first former Twins team in a while that isn’t better than the current Twins team. Progress! The lineups are probably somewhat even but the current Twins have a better bench, rotation and pen.

Yeah, Span, Hicks, Gomez, Revere – no shortage of real GOOD OF. At least defensively. At some time this season, we could have five current and former Twins in centerfield, playing on one day. 

 

And Buxton, Rosario and Kepler can all play the position as well.

 

As for the pen, Nathan, Neshek, Boyer and Cotts would be my back end. 

 

the problem – as you noted – with the former Twins lineup is there are no reserves for 2B, 3B and SS. None. That's rough.

 

I'd put the current Twins roster and lineup against this squad any day. 

[ThejacKmp]

 

Yeah, Span, Hicks, Gomez, Revere – no shortage of real GOOD OF. At least defensively. At some time this season, we could have five current and former Twins in centerfield, playing on one day. 

 

And Buxton, Rosario and Kepler can all play the position as well.

 

As for the pen, Nathan, Neshek, Boyer and Cotts would be my back end. 

 

the problem – as you noted – with the former Twins lineup is there are no reserves for 2B, 3B and SS. None. That's rough.

 

I'd put the current Twins roster and lineup against this squad any day. 

 

Yeah Casilla is not an ideal starting 2B and Florimon would be awful.

 

Garza out for 4-6 weeks. Sam Deduno to the rotation!

[Rosterman]

Liriano issue. First off, even though they carried him for his surgery years, there was some bad blood about service time.

 

By trading Liriano, the Twins would've been able to enter the free agent market for the guy, not cut him. They did, but I believe they possibly low-balled him in $$$ and length of contract. I seem to remember that many of us were shocked that he got a multi-year deal and for the $$$ he received. Then Pittsburgh treated him well and he got some smarts to continue there.

 

It seems to be all about money, and then comfort zone, these days. There is no "hometown discount" on any massive scale anymore. 

 

It is almost that there aren't teams anymore. Sure, teams develop players. But after a certain number of years, there is no loyalty...so a team is forced to make a hard decision before arbitration sets in, or just troll free agency.

 

There's lots of "former Twins" in the system, who never played a day in a Twins major league uniform. That's for another discussion.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I think it's time to put the Liriano trade to bed.

 

Would you trade Eduardo Escobar for Liriano straight-up today? I don't know if I would... And by the end of 2016, there's a good chance that answer is a resounding "NO".

 

I thought the trade was "meh" at the time but it's hard to argue with it today.

[Rosterman]

Hey, A.J. Achter got the call from the Blue Jays!