Don't sign Josh Donaldson

[darin617]

I'm not sure why people are so quick to want to sign Donaldson when the Twins have enough bats already and shouldn't be meeting his demands anyways of a 4 year deal he is seeking. It may look good for 2020, but he is already 34 years old and teams shouldn't be paying players that high of contract when they are 36-38.

 

I would rather not be stuck in a long term deal that the team would regret in a couple of years. Sign Eric Thames or Todd Frazier to 1 year deal and see how the minor league prospects develop i for 2021.

 

 

Just because the team has the money to spend doesn't mean they need to be foolish with it. They can always be looking for a trade for a SP now or during the season and take on a contract that way.

[Brandon]

When Donaldson is 37 he will likely still be able to put up a .750+ OPS. He walks alot and power is the last thing to go. His average will drop as he ages. Think .220-.230/.320/.430. His defense will drop as well but should still be adequate. He will basically be Todd Frazier at 37. That's still worth around 10 million. So I am fine signing Donaldson. Now is the time we need his bat the most. If he is worth 10 million and on that last year we are paying 24-25 million we are paying that extra 14-15 million for the production the first 2 years of the deal. This is not a tragic overpay. I suspect though that this is worst case scenario. He could be moved to 1B/DH and hit better and field better at 1B. It's his reaction times that will drop not his fundamentals.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Nelson Cruz signed a 4 year deal, age 34-38, and it worked out pretty well!

 

There is always risk, no guarantee, etc, but Donaldson was perhaps good enough at age 33 that he has some room to age over the next few years and still be a valuable contributor.

[tony&rodney]

If you do not want Donaldson, don't suggest wasting money on someone else. The Twins are set, mostly. An add of Mitch Moreland would help at 1B, but they are good to go right now. They still need pitching.

I would advocate an addition of JD, but the Twins can score runs without adding anyone. Add Wood and Walker, and continue to explore decent trade opportunities.

No offense intended on my disinterest in Frazier or Thames, but I like Adrianza and Gonzalez more.

[KirbyDome89]

Cleveland tried the "wait and see," approach last season and we saw what happened. A hot start from MN and a few key injuries wrecked their season. If the Twins think they can roll into 2020 with Berrios, Odorizzi, Pineda (after his 2 month suspension) and a bunch of bodies then they're begging for disaster. If one of Odo or Berrios goes down for any significant amount of time in the first half a trade at deadline might be too little too late. 

 

If you can guarantee me that MN will use the money they have at their disposal to pay a front line starter than I'm fine with passing on Donaldson. I wouldn't say I'm particularly confident they'll find a suitable match, let alone be willing to pay the price for said starter. IMO the likeliest scenario is signing a bounce back option or two and swinging a trade for another mid rotation arm; which means there will be plenty of $$ left for Donaldson. 

[Dantes929]

I know its not apples to apples and I am generally a pitching and defense guy but JD had a 6.4 WAR last year to Cron's 1.4.   Games are won by a lot of different things and pitching is just one of them.  More offeense and better defense is a factor also.   Why say we are set for offense just because last year was a great year.  Why not try to get better on offense as well since it seems to be an easier get than pitching?   Budget his contract at 40 mil this year, 30 mil next year and 12-15 mil the next two years.    I'm not saying this is a must guy to get but he would look pretty good over at third with Sano at 1st and Sano at DH after that.

[Mr. Brooks]

I know its not apples to apples and I am generally a pitching and defense guy but JD had a 6.4 WAR last year to Cron's 1.4. Games are won by a lot of different things and pitching is just one of them. More offeense and better defense is a factor also. Why say we are set for offense just because last year was a great year. Why not try to get better on offense as well since it seems to be an easier get than pitching? Budget his contract at 40 mil this year, 30 mil next year and 12-15 mil the next two years. I'm not saying this is a must guy to get but he would look pretty good over at third with Sano at 1st and Sano at DH after that.

Front loading his contract at $40 million this year would put payroll north of $150 million.

 

I'll leave town if opening day payroll is even close to that.

[Heistyman]

Winning with offense now will allow more time for young arms to mature.  It will also allow some time to shake out our top prospects and be certain which are keepers and which are trade chips.  We can then bundle some prospects for arms for the stretch run if needed.

[Mike Sixel]

Winning with offense now will allow more time for young arms to mature. It will also allow some time to shake out our top prospects and be certain which are keepers and which are trade chips. We can then bundle some prospects for arms for the stretch run if needed.

Won't other teams know which aren't keepers at that point?

 

I agree with your first points, though.

[cardsfan]

Nelson Cruz signed a 4 year deal, age 34-38, and it worked out pretty well!

 

There is always risk, no guarantee, etc, but Donaldson was perhaps good enough at age 33 that he has some room to age over the next few years and still be a valuable contributor.

There are exceptions to every rule. Signing Donaldson isn't worth the risk. I remember last season they were concerned that his calf was going to rupture again.

[darin617]

 

There are exceptions to every rule. Signing Donaldson isn't worth the risk. I remember last season they were concerned that his calf was going to rupture again.

Exactly. Add on the fact that he is commanding 4 years and it makes me ill.

 

[TwinsFan268]

OK, I don't quite understand. I am 207% on the side of signing Donaldson. He makes it so that we can trade Sano and get some really good players in return. He also adds more home runs (no the Twins don't NEED more home runs, but they're always nice!) and a good OPS. So think whatever you want but I'm staying on my side. You can't change my mind.

[USAFChief]

There are exceptions to every rule. Signing Donaldson isn't worth the risk. I remember last season they were concerned that his calf was going to rupture again.

and did it?

[Monkeypaws]

Signing premium players is a good thing. We don't want to overthink this.

[Battle ur tail off]

You don't really have to worry about it. The Twins made a 4-year offer already. If he wanted to be here, he would be already. 

 

They are either light on their offer, or he is waiting for the Braves to get close. Seriously, I'd give it a 15% chance at best we get him. 

[Cody Pirkl]

By all accounts, Josh Donaldson appears to be a special hitting mind on par with guys like Nelson Cruz. Clearly the Twins front office believes so as well considering they've reportedly offered him $100 million. Donaldson is still an elite defender and offensive player. Signing him wouldn't be spending just to spend. He improves our infield defense tremendously which is honestly our 2nd biggest issue behind starting pitching, which Donaldson's defense would help with as well.

 

Donaldson's defense may age poorly, but he would be a great option for DH if it gets too bad in future years. His bat shows no signs of slowing down and on a pure value basis in terms of adding wins to this team, he's the kind of player that could easily end up being an MVP on this team that has a lot of other very good players. Signing Donaldson would be a multi faceted improvement to the entire roster and he'd instantly become a core player for the next 3-5 years. 

[SwainZag]

 

You don't really have to worry about it. The Twins made a 4-year offer already. If he wanted to be here, he would be already. 

 

They are either light on their offer, or he is waiting for the Braves to get close. Seriously, I'd give it a 15% chance at best we get him. 

 

His agent has said they are waiting to see if the Braves will give a 4th year and that is his desired destination.  For all we know the Twins offer could be the best on the table and he is just taking his time, which he has every right to do.  I actually think the Twins have a decent shot at landing him.

[ewen21]

There are exceptions to every rule. Signing Donaldson isn't worth the risk. I remember last season they were concerned that his calf was going to rupture again.

We are a few years too late with a Donaldson. I don’t need a “show me you care by throwing a lot of money at a guy” deal. Give me something that makes sense for more than just one year.

[ewen21]

His agent has said they are waiting to see if the Braves will give a 4th year and that is his desired destination. For all we know the Twins offer could be the best on the table.

They are most assuredly going to need to and in this case it isn’t worth it. I like Donaldson, too

[raindog]

Even if he's only good for the first year of a four year deal - which is not unrealistic - it's still worth signing him. His contract will in no way limit how much the Pohlads can spend on payroll in his final three years. I don't think people realize how ridiculous the money in MLB is right now. 

 

I'm not trying to turn this into another cheap Pohlads debate, just saying that we do not need to worry about any contract crippling the future of this team. They can afford bad contracts - stop worrying about it. 

[tony&rodney]

If the Twins can sign JD, then it is incomprehensible why any Twin fan would be opposed to a contract in the 4/$100M range (I will predict 4/$90M) for him. Donaldson makes any team in baseball better. Perhaps the Cole contract is too rich for the Twins (he was never a consideration by the team), but JD and others are not. The Twins will show a profit with a payroll of $150M in 2020, more profit with a lower payroll.

As far as Donaldson goes, I want the Twins to add players that make them better; he does.

[Diesel]

If the Twins were to miss out on Donaldson, using Marwin and rookies would be better and cheaper than other options like Todd Frazier and Castellanos (in my opinion).

[USAFChief]

If the Twins were to miss out on Donaldson, using Marwin and rookies would be better and cheaper than other options like Todd Frazier and Castellanos (in my opinion).

marwin wasn't even a league average hitter last year. That's a really bad idea.

[darin617]

 

Even if he's only good for the first year of a four year deal - which is not unrealistic - it's still worth signing him. His contract will in no way limit how much the Pohlads can spend on payroll in his final three years. I don't think people realize how ridiculous the money in MLB is right now. 

 

I'm not trying to turn this into another cheap Pohlads debate, just saying that we do not need to worry about any contract crippling the future of this team. They can afford bad contracts - stop worrying about it. 

 

Yes it will. The Twins are not going to keep raising their payroll. It's always going to top out around 135M or so. They also need to figure out of they can sign Berrios, Buxton, Rosario, Sano, Garver, & Rogers to long term deals. So they will be commanding quite a bit to keep most of them long term.

[darin617]

 

If the Twins can sign JD, then it is incomprehensible why any Twin fan would be opposed to a contract in the 4/$100M range (I will predict 4/$90M) for him. Donaldson makes any team in baseball better. Perhaps the Cole contract is too rich for the Twins (he was never a consideration by the team), but JD and others are not. The Twins will show a profit with a payroll of $150M in 2020, more profit with a lower payroll.

As far as Donaldson goes, I want the Twins to add players that make them better; he does.

Still need pitching, so unless JD makes an appearance every 5th day on the mound we are basically thr same team as last year. All power and little to no pitching. Perfect recipe to win a division and be one and done in the playoffs.

[DocBauer]

To be frank, Donaldson was never in MY plans for this team. My hopes were tied to just one really good SP FA option. No more debating or whining, it simply was not to be.

 

So, while trading for an arm is a viable and import move to make, you can STILL add to your team. It is never a bad thing to add to your offense or your defense even if another area of your team still needs work. You are still adding to the WHOLE that is the team.

 

I'd guess he's worth the money for the first 2 years, decent but probably not worth full value the 3rd yr, and not worth the 4th season. But overall, he will be a quality contributor for the duration as a 3B/DH.

 

I'm still waiting for the Braves to give in and offer up the 4th year though and sign him.

[Otwins]

So is he

[Battle ur tail off]

 

His agent has said they are waiting to see if the Braves will give a 4th year and that is his desired destination.  For all we know the Twins offer could be the best on the table and he is just taking his time, which he has every right to do.  I actually think the Twins have a decent shot at landing him.

 

I'm using past history as my guide. Twins have never been top bidder when going for coveted free agents on multi-year deals. Never outbid anyone else. 

 

It's fine to believe it, but he will sign with either Atlanta or Washington. Also, it has now been reported Atlanta has put a 4th year on the table. He gone. Probably even looking for 5 years.

[spanman2]

 

Front loading his contract at $40 million this year would put payroll north of $150 million.

I'll leave town if opening day payroll is even close to that.

Those $10.25 beers will have to go up to $10.75.

[hugelycat]

There's a good chance that the Twins would end up regretting the last year or two of a Josh Donaldson contract, but that's the cost of doing business in MLB. To get an elite player now, you have to pay a premium and risk the end of the contract turning sour.

We have a very strong team now, and should improve it any way we can. In an ideal world, I'd rather go get a high-end SP, but great SPs are rare, and everyone wants them. Like you said, maybe a trade for an SP is a possibility, but we don't know who's available and what teams are asking. Plus, most of the SPs who will be available are only available because they have their own question marks, in performance, salary, or both.

Since we couldn't get any of the big name free agent SPs this year, better to spend money and go after Donaldson to make the team better. Don't leave it at that, make some trades for pitching too. Just don't make the perfect the enemy of the good.