My 2019 Blueprint

[ChrisKnutson]

2019 Offseason:

 

Signings:

Joe Kelly 2yr/$22M

Cody Allen 1yr/$12M

Nelson Cruz 2yr/$34M

Jed Lowrie 3yr/$36M

Total—> $104M

 

Trades:

(CLE) Yonder Alonso <—> Magill/Cave/Diaz (+1yr/$8M)

(SEA) Dee Gordon <—> Hildenberger/Arraez (+2yr/$20M) (Lowrie alternative)

 

Non-tender:

Robbie Grossman (trade if you can)

Tyler Duffey

 

Lineup:

2nd- Jed Lowrie (or Dee Gordon)

SS- Jorge Polanco

RF- Eddie Rosario

DH- Nelson Cruz

1st- Yonder Alonso

3rd- Miguel Sano

CF- Byron Buxton

C- Mitch Garver

RF- Max Kepler

 

Bench:

Tyler Austin

Ehire Adrianza

Lamonte Wade

Jason Castro

 

AAA Depth:

Nick Gordon

Willians Astudillo

Michael Reed

 

Rotation:

Jose Berrios

Fernando Romero

Kyle Gibson

Michael Pineda

Jake Odorizzi

 

CL- Joe Kelly

SU- Trevor May

SU- Cody Allen

Adalberto Mejia

Addison Reed

Taylor Rogers

Kohl Stewart

 

AAA Depth:

Gabriel Moya

Stephen Gonsalves

Alan Busenitz

Andrew Vasquez

Chase De Jong

Lewis Thorpe

John Curtiss

[USAFChief]

Good start, but I think they need to add more pitching.

[Mike Sixel]

Need to add Dee Gordon to your bench, and cut someone, I think......

 

What role is Dee playing? Super utility? Or, is that if you don't sign Lowrie?

 

 

[TheLeviathan]

I think Gordon is if Lowrie isn't signed.  But he'll cost a LOT more than Hildy and Arraez.  

 

I like Kelly and Allen.

[jkcarew]

A "bridge the gap" (next wave of prospects) strategy. It's rational, IMO...even realistic, I think. IMO, it's a strategy to compete only for the division, not the pennant (too many teams in AL are a lot better than this). On the other hand, it's really only costing shorter-term money, so why not, I guess.  I do think the offer for Alonso would have to be a bit sweeter from Cleveland's perspective, I think. (Not to mention the unlikelihood of Cleveland agreeing, under any circumstances, to plug a hole for their top competitor. But I get the point...a proven bat that provides a short-term solution at 1B)

[ChrisKnutson]

Need to add Dee Gordon to your bench, and cut someone, I think......

 

What role is Dee playing? Super utility? Or, is that if you don't sign Lowrie?

Gordon was meant to be a Lowrie alternative, but putting him in a super utility role doesn’t sound so bad.

[ChrisKnutson]

A "bridge the gap" (next wave of prospects) strategy. It's rational, IMO...even realistic, I think. IMO, it's a strategy to compete only for the division, not the pennant (too many teams in AL are a lot better than this). On the other hand, it's really only costing shorter-term money, so why not, I guess. I do think the offer for Alonso would have to be a bit sweeter from Cleveland's perspective, I think. (Not to mention the unlikelihood of Cleveland agreeing, under any circumstances, to plug a hole for their top competitor. But I get the point...a proven bat that provides a short-term solution at 1B)

My goal with this “bridge the gap” approach is to also reasonably supplement the possibility that everything comes together for the 2019 Twins like it did for 2017 Yankees, a young team that had a lot of breakouts performances and rode them to Game 7 of ALCS against the eventual WS champs. IMO I believe the Twins core has similar, if not more, potential than that team showed before their postseason run, which is why I wanna bring in short-term solutions like Cruz, Lowrie, and Alonso for 1-2 years because even if we fail to make the deep playoff run I know this team is capable of, at least these guys will have served the purpose of “bridging the gap” to prospects like Lewis, Kirilloff, Rooker, Larnach, Jeffers, and Javier for relatively affordable price.

[ChrisKnutson]

Good start, but I think they need to add more pitching.

Obviously there’s more to be had in both areas, but which do you think is more important; adding a proven starter, or a couple more bullpen arms??