Making Room for Donaldson

[Seth Stohs]

 

On their off the record GATG podcast, John Bonnes hinted at one that he wouldn't be very happy about. I'm guessing that's Lamonte Wade Jr.

 

I hope not, but he's pretty redundant (So is Ryne Harper though)

 

Definitely won't be LaMonte Wade... 

 

In a message to him before the podcast, I threw out Nick Gordon as a possibility. I do think Harper or Wisler are more likely, but if they want to keep pitching, I think Gordon would be the position player who possibly could be DFAd.  How about Astudillo?

 

I hear Poppen's name often, but did anyone watch him last year? Dude is 95-97 with movement and a slider... No way I'd DFA him at this point. 

[Seth Stohs]

 

I was thinking the Rockies would want Rosario in that deal......

 

If they are dealing Gray, I would think they'd want prospects, not a guy making more than Gray in the same arbitration/free agency timeline. 

[bunsen82]

If the twins do have a trade in the works, my guess is they will just delay this signing to wrap up the trade.  I am not sure if that is what is currently going on, but if we do not hear of any transactions I would guess this is a possibility. 

[TFRazor]

 

 

I hear Poppen's name often, but did anyone watch him last year? Dude is 95-97 with movement and a slider... No way I'd DFA him at this point. 

Agreed. If he clicks he can be filthy

[Darius]

I wouldn’t think twice about one of Harper, Poppen, or Wisler. It has to be one of those three, considering they’re brought in Clippard.

 

Astudillo is a candidate. But, it may be nice to have him around in the case of an injury to Avila/Garver. I’d stash him at AAA.

 

Adrianza is an option. But, he’s probably the most competent defender at short stop that we could roll out if Polanco got injured. He’s also one of the few guys that can swing a bat from the left side. He’s played well here for years, I think he’s earned it.

 

Wade is an option. But, it sure would be nice to have him sitting there as a 5th OF (which came in handy last year).

 

I’m not selling low on Gordon at this point, with so much invested. Could be a valuable middle infield piece sooner than later. With the defensive issues up the middle, I can’t see pulling the trigger on that.

[Mike Sixel]

 

If they are dealing Gray, I would think they'd want prospects, not a guy making more than Gray in the same arbitration/free agency timeline. 

 

This is the Rockies we are talking about......but sure, they all work for me......

[Richie the Rally Goat]

 

The Twins have a lot of pitchers on their 40-man, I would think it should be a pitcher who is DFAed. With the two free-agent righties added, I think Harper is the best choice. While the position player roster looks nearly full right now, injuries always happen. The beauty of having both Gonzalez, Austudillo and Adrianza around is their real versatility. Every position except for center field is covered by this trio and Adrianza and Gonzalez are probably better fielders than the starters at most positions.

Adrianza and Gonzalez are better fielders than whom? Rosario, Arraez & Polanco - probably. TBD on Sano, but plausible at first. I would say not better than Kepler in right. I doubt they are better fielders than Donaldson at 3rd. 

[Danchat]

I don’t see much reason for Harper to be on the 40 man roster, as I would guess they wouldn’t lose him if DFA’d.

 

I wouldn’t want to DFA anyone else outside of Wisler...

[nicksaviking]

 

I was thinking the Rockies would want Rosario in that deal......

 

Colorado loves their left handed corner outfielders, even especially when they don't seem to make a lot of sense on paper.

 

Plus from a Twins perspective, trading Rosario for pitching, Gray in particular, would offset the new pitcher's salary; the team is in uncharted payroll territory after all. I know, I know, it's still the shallow end of the pool.

 

All things being equal, I keep Rosario, but with Donaldson on board, now more than ever I dangle Rosario as part of a package if a starter (that I like) is available.

[jkcarew]

 

Definitely won't be LaMonte Wade... 

 

In a message to him before the podcast, I threw out Nick Gordon as a possibility. 

Why? I'll hold the 24 year-old shortstop that OPS'd .801 in AAA last year...over the 26 year-old corner outfielder with the .712 OPS in 628 AAA PA's. Last year, Wade's OPS ranked 14th among Rochester batters with at least 100  PA.

 

Ideally, I'd trade both...again, starting with Wade...if I thought they'd add value to a package.

[MMMordabito]

How about Dakota Chalmers and his MiLB career 6.6 BB/9?

[stringer bell]

 

Adrianza and Gonzalez are better fielders than whom? Rosario, Arraez & Polanco - probably. TBD on Sano, but plausible at first. I would say not better than Kepler in right. I doubt they are better fielders than Donaldson at 3rd. 

Yes, that is how I see it. Adrianza > Polanco/Arraez and Gonzalez > Sano/Rosario. I wouldn't be surprised if Marwin was pretty close to Donaldson at third, as well. 

[Dman]

 

I don’t see much reason for Harper to be on the 40 man roster, as I would guess they wouldn’t lose him if DFA’d.

I wouldn’t want to DFA anyone else outside of Wisler...

 

Matt McGill, Mike Morin and Blake Parker say HI.  We let them go and they were picked up right away.  I think the same will happen with Harper.  Id agree though that Harper and Wisler are the choices. They have plenty of guys in the pipeline to take over those roles if needed IMO.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

How about Dakota Chalmers and his MiLB career 6.6 BB/9?

He was a 40 man add this offseason. I don't believe he can be removed.

[Musk21]

 

He was a 40 man add this offseason. I don't believe he can be removed.

I'm sure he could be DFA just like anyone else. Why would there be a rule that you can't remove someone?

[Rosterman]

 

I'm sure he could be DFA just like anyone else. Why would there be a rule that you can't remove someone?

I believe that there is a rule about removing guys you still control who you added at the 40-man dedaline - before spring training. They can be traded. But that is to prevent adding a bunch of people and then removing them, which is why you always keep a few people on the fringe like Willians, Harper, Poppen and others on the roster.

 

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Wow, that's a nice link. Thanks!

 

One possible error on there though....I think it was established somewhere on TD that Romero has 1 option remaining.

Yup, Romero should be eligible for a 4th option year. But that's complicated, and not automatic, so it's often not reflected on sites that try to track options for everyone, across the league.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I'm sure he could be DFA just like anyone else. Why would there be a rule that you can't remove someone?

The rule is that players added to the 40-man for the 1st time after August 15th can't be outrighted off the 40-man roster to the minor leagues before the following March 15th, I think.

 

Basically, I think it's to prevent teams from loading up their 40-man roster with minor leaguers before the Rule 5 draft, and then waiving/outrighting those same minor leaguers after the draft.

 

You can still trade them, or release them, or even let them go on waivers in that time. You just can't outright them to keep them in your org while removing them from the 40-man.

 

So Chalmers is safe, for now.

[Musk21]

 

I believe that there is a rule about removing guys you still control who you added at the 40-man dedaline - before spring training. They can be traded. But that is to prevent adding a bunch of people and then removing them, which is why you always keep a few people on the fringe like Willians, Harper, Poppen and others on the roster.

Maybe so, but seems like there is no real advantage. If you add them at the 40-man deadline, they aren't eligible for the Rule 5 draft. If you remove them sometime after the Rule 5 draft, they can be claimed by any team (and thus added to that team's 40-man roster).

 

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Maybe so, but seems like there is no real advantage. If you add them at the 40-man deadline, they aren't eligible for the Rule 5 draft. If you remove them sometime after the Rule 5 draft, they can be claimed by any team (and thus added to that team's 40-man roster).

Without that rule, the Rule 5 draft would be even more meaningless than it is. Anyone even close to protecting would get added before the draft, and many of them would get waived after the draft. Some of those would get claimed, some would sneak through, and teams would essentially just be shuffling all these marginal guys around for no real benefit to anyone.

 

I mean, the Rule 5 draft is a pretty marginal affair already. So any rule to protect it / prevent circumventing it is going to seem pretty marginal too. But I suspect this is the reason for it -- they want teams to only protect guys they intend to keep around on the 40-man for a little bit, at least.

[Danchat]

Matt McGill, Mike Morin and Blake Parker say HI. We let them go and they were picked up right away. I think the same will happen with Harper. Id agree though that Harper and Wisler are the choices. They have plenty of guys in the pipeline to take over those roles if needed IMO.

Even if they do lose him, it won’t mean much. Losing those 3 didn’t harm us in the slightest last year.

[Dman]

 

Even if they do lose him, it won’t mean much. Losing those 3 didn’t harm us in the slightest last year.

 

Agreed.  I just think Harper is better than people on this site give him credit for.  I think he would be gone for good if they release him.  It won't impact the Twins that much but there is a reason the front office left him on the roster and he lasted this long and that is they do see value in keeping him if there is room.