Twins should be taking advantage of this market

[darin617]

With teams "colluding" since they finally woke up to the fact nobody should be getting 10 years deals when they are 25+ anymore.

 

I don't expect the Twins to sign top notch players but they should be signing players to minor league deals with invites to Spring Training (what Martin Perez should have got instead of $4M guaranteed.)

 

They also should have signed players that could easily be flipped for prospects at the trade deadline. So much talent out there still that would be better than players projected to make the 25 man roster.

[Danchat]

They “took advantage” last offseason and it totally backfired... but I would see if I could land Kimbrel for cheap or get Keuchel on an expensive one year deal. Outside of that, I wouldn’t chase the players who are asking for too much.

[Jham]

That's not how price fixing works.

[Doomtints]

Most of the available players at the moment are on the older side. The market of players young enough to be worth signing to long term deals and building around is pretty small.  The Twins probably aren't in the running for anyone interesting as there just aren't enough interesting players.

 

Still, loading up the bullpen with one year contracts wouldn't be a terrible plan I should think. There is an utter deluge of free agents in their 30s and the Twins still seem thin in the pen.

[hugelycat]

They should have already taken advantage of this market. That's my biggest criticism of this offseason. They don't have to go wild, but they're not taking advantage of potential value, when they have the means and the opportunity to do so.

Lots of RPs with upside already came off the board for very reasonable deals that I would have loved to see go to the Twins. Guys like Cody Allen, Brad Brach, and Shawn Kelley all went for cheap one-year deals. Even Soria, Herrera, and Robertson went for less than I expected.

[Splash45]

Lindor out 7-9 weeks. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/02/francisco-lindor-indians-calf-strain-seven-nine-weeks.html There goes another 2 WAR for the Indians. Remind me again why we aren't going all in RIGHT NOW?

If he’s out 7 weeks he’ll be back right around opening day...not sure how that should have any effect on if the Twins should go all in or not.

[sweetmusicviola16]

They did sign Adam Rosales to an milb deal today. Surprise, surprise. He has ties to Lavine and Texas.

 

I'm all in favor of signing anyone they can to an milb deal. I have yet to see a bad one.

 

On another note, Marwin Gonzalez is still available. He of all the remaining FA's would help this team the most. Can basically play all of the positions except for C at MLB quality. A solid bat from both sides of the plate. And will cost a fraction of what Harper/Machado/Kimbrel will. He will not cost a draft pick either, only cash and he's a potential trade chip in the future.

[darin617]

 

They “took advantage” last offseason and it totally backfired... but I would see if I could land Kimbrel for cheap or get Keuchel on an expensive one year deal. Outside of that, I wouldn’t chase the players who are asking for too much.

 

They signed players too late. They did not have Spring Training and were a mess. Morrison would be a great target for a team to sign to a minor league. If he is healthy and bounces back he will be a great signing and I would highly doubt he would get much money at all. Perfect for Seattle or Baltimore to get.

[darin617]

Martin Maldonado, Lucas Duda, Logan Forsythe, Alcides Escobar, Adeiny Hechavarria, Cameron Maybin, John Axford, Tyler Clippard, Jim Johnson, Ryan Madson, Bud Norris, Drew Storen, and Tony Sipp.

 

All they could possibly be signed to minor league deals with some upside. 

 

I know I slightly turned it into dumpster diving but nearly all would be better than some of our current options on the roster now.

[Thrylos]

I am all for it if they can get Keuchel, Kimbrel, Harper, & Machado in one year deals.

 

That will cost them their first 3 picks, and about 4 players (who will have to be DFA'd or there is no space for them because they are out of options.)  There were rivers virtual tears when De Jong was DFA'd, cannot wait to see what happens when they have to get rid of Austin, Granite, Mejia, and Hildenberger

[lukeduke1980]

I imagine the players and their agents are still asking for the moon, otherwise I think a lot of teams, if not most teams, would be all in on Keuchel/Kimbrall for 1 - 3 year deals

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

They “took advantage” last offseason and it totally backfired... but I would see if I could land Kimbrel for cheap or get Keuchel on an expensive one year deal. Outside of that, I wouldn’t chase the players who are asking for too much.

 

Not sure I'd call it totally backfiring. They got prospects for Lynn, Rodney, and Duke. Morrison was really the only true backfire. They got pretty good results out of the others.

 

To me, that's the type of thing they should be doing. It was one of my biggest complaints about Terry Ryan. 

 

 

[Vanimal46]

I would sign Marwin Gonzalez in a heart beat. Can't believe he's still out there unsigned today.

 

Of course I also wanted high end pitching for both the bullpen and rotation. Alas, that ship has sailed.

[Doomtints]

 

Not sure I'd call it totally backfiring. They got prospects for Lynn, Rodney, and Duke. Morrison was really the only true backfire. They got pretty good results out of the others.

 

To me, that's the type of thing they should be doing. It was one of my biggest complaints about Terry Ryan. 

 

Many people use strong words to describe last year because some of us had very high expectations.  90-100 wins was a common prediction.

 

The reality of course was they were still a .500 team if everything worked out right because 2017 was such a down year for the AL. As other teams got better for 2018, the Twins improved just enough to tread water.

 

"Disappointment" is probably a better word to use than "failure." It wasn't THAT hard to predict 2018 if one looked at the entire league and not just the Twins.

[nytwinsfan]

 

If he’s out 7 weeks he’ll be back right around opening day...not sure how that should have any effect on if the Twins should go all in or not.

You are right. I'm dumb.

[Danchat]

I would sign Marwin Gonzalez in a heart beat. Can't believe he's still out there unsigned today.

 

Of course I also wanted high end pitching for both the bullpen and rotation. Alas, that ship has sailed.

Gonzalez seemingly vanished upon entering FA, there’s been almost zero reported interest in him. So... how about a one year deal?!

 

There’s still high end bullpen arms left. Kimbrel is out there and I’d like a guy like Vincent too.

[SomeGuy]

 

I would sign Marwin Gonzalez in a heart beat. Can't believe he's still out there unsigned today.

Of course I also wanted high end pitching for both the bullpen and rotation. Alas, that ship has sailed.

He's a Boras Client, Boras still has a ton of unsigned clients.  6 of what Fangraphs calls the best 10 remaining free agents are his.  He loves waiting it out.

[Loosey]

Machado and Harper were looking for mega mega deals in 8-10 year range.  That hasn't come to fruition for them.  

 

With both of them being 26 years old and the Twins having a 2 year window to not have to pay up for their young players they should go crazy for two years of Harper or Machado.  

 

Go and offer one of them 2 years/$70M (or more).  They will be free agents again when they are 28 years old.  And have a cool $70M sitting the bank.

[Loosey]

 

You are right. I'm dumb.

No, not dumb.  Just awful at counting. . . .

[darin617]

 

You are right. I'm dumb.

 

you are not dumb. he still needs time to get ready. You would expect him to miss a couple of weeks of the regular season as well. Still needs to get into playing shape and no clue when he can start swinging a bat and running as well.

[KirbyDome89]

 

I am all for it if they can get Keuchel, Kimbrel, Harper, & Machado in one year deals.

 

That will cost them their first 3 picks, and about 4 players (who will have to be DFA'd or there is no space for them because they are out of options.)  There were rivers virtual tears when De Jong was DFA'd, cannot wait to see what happens when they have to get rid of Austin, Granite, Mejia, and Hildenberger

Unless you believe that the signing of any of those four is at the level of Perez I'm not sure why you'd expect objections. 

[notoriousgod71]

As presently constructed, I'm not sure this pitching staff is capable of winning 70 games. It is truly awful.

[darin617]

 

As presently constructed, I'm not sure this pitching staff is capable of winning 70 games. It is truly awful.

The rest of the division besides Cleveland look really bad. White Sox are really close to turning it around.

[akmanak]

I am not really understanding on why people are so crazy about Harper. Yup he hit 34 home runs last year but he also batted .249 which is by no means lights out.

 

I would much rather that we would sign Machado which we wont but it is fun to day dream.

[Number3]

Plus most of those home runs were hit in April and May and he had to play Joe Mauer to get his average "up" to .249. If they paid Harper $35mil/yr for 2 years you might as well kiss the 2019/20 seasons goodbye. It won't happen anyway because Harper and his agent are still convinced that he is the second coming of the entire Hall of Fame.

 

What part of the 2018 Baltimore Orioles and LA Dodgers is so hard to figure out as far as Machado is concerned? Machado piles up stats but does not come through in the clutch and is disruptive on a roster. Twins need to play up to their potential and they should stay in the playoff hunt as is.

[Mike Sixel]

The Dodgers have an all star third basemen and short stop. Returning from injury. They are one of the few teams that can say they don't need Machado.

 

I don't think people are doing a good job of comparing Harper to other players. It's pretty easy to do since he entered the league. It's right in fangraphs. Also, great players, this young, aren't generally available just for money, which every team has plenty of.

[Battle ur tail off]

 

Plus most of those home runs were hit in April and May and he had to play Joe Mauer to get his average "up" to .249. If they paid Harper $35mil/yr for 2 years you might as well kiss the 2019/20 seasons goodbye. It won't happen anyway because Harper and his agent are still convinced that he is the second coming of the entire Hall of Fame.

 

What part of the 2018 Baltimore Orioles and LA Dodgers is so hard to figure out as far as Machado is concerned? Machado piles up stats but does not come through in the clutch and is disruptive on a roster. Twins need to play up to their potential and they should stay in the playoff hunt as is.

 

2/70? That wouldn't hamstring the team at all. If that's what it took, I'd take Harper all day long and so would the Twins most likely. 

[rghrbek]

 

Plus most of those home runs were hit in April and May and he had to play Joe Mauer to get his average "up" to .249. If they paid Harper $35mil/yr for 2 years you might as well kiss the 2019/20 seasons goodbye. It won't happen anyway because Harper and his agent are still convinced that he is the second coming of the entire Hall of Fame.

 

What part of the 2018 Baltimore Orioles and LA Dodgers is so hard to figure out as far as Machado is concerned? Machado piles up stats but does not come through in the clutch and is disruptive on a roster. Twins need to play up to their potential and they should stay in the playoff hunt as is.

 

How exactly would having Harper on our roster for 2 years make us kiss the next two years goodbye? Anything factual to back that up?

[Supfin99]

 

As presently constructed, I'm not sure this pitching staff is capable of winning 70 games. It is truly awful.

Wow that seems a little shortsighted.  Berrios and Gibson were both in the top 15 in the AL in WAR for pitchers last year.  Odorizzi had his worst season on the majors and still was top 50.  Pineda has good stuff coming back from TJS.  Have 5 to 6 options with either Majors or AAA experience waiting in the wings.  Not sure how that equates to 70 wins.  Last year where a lot of things went wrong, including basically lost seasons from Sano and Buxton and we won 78.  We lost no one of importance, added a much better DH in Cruz, Sano and Buxton really can't be any worse, the still young guys like Kepler, Berrios, Hildenberger have another year of experience but somehow we are going to be 10 games worse than last year?

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I am not really understanding on why people are so crazy about Harper. Yup he hit 34 home runs last year but he also batted .249 which is by no means lights out.

The league non-pitcher batting average was down to .252 last year. It hasn't been that low since 1968 -- the year Yastrzemski won the AL batting title at .301. In fact, 1968 (.245), 1908 (.246), and 1967 (.251) are the only 3 seasons in MLB history after 1900 with a lower non-pitcher batting average than 2018.

 

Killebrew had a below average AVG in 1962 too, his age 26 season. Would you have advised a team not to sign Killebrew after that season? Overall he still had a 138 OPS+ that year. Harper last year was 25 years old, and had a 133 OPS+ despite his slightly below average AVG.